Showstoppers
by Mysty Midnight
Summary: -AU- It seems like fate when runaway Lucy meets fire-breathing Natsu, a member of the Fairy Tail Circus - but there's more to them than meets the eye.
1. Fiery Encounters

Hey y'all! I'm Mysty Midnight and I'll be your author for the next 10 chapters or so.  
>While I own this (not so) fabulous plot, I don't own Fairy Tail nor any of it's awesome mages.<p>

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

"_Get back - I'll protect you!"_

_Protection is something she has always seemed to need. They look at her as a delicate princess in need of a knight to rescue her. And she'd once looked at him as her knight. Since the minute they'd meant, he's been saving her. A damsel in distress is in need of a hero who is destined to save the helpless girl forever and always. But life is not a fairy tale. This time, she would not be the burden or the observer, but a hero too._

"_You're not going to fight alone."_

_He clenches his fists. She has proven to be strong and helpful, loyal and funny, and those were the reasons why he loves her. But she's fragile too. Through his life he has faced many difficult paths, getting wounded and hurt through the journey, but he isn't going to allow that to happen to her. He won't forgive with himself if he failed to defend her and she got hurt._

_He opens his mouth and begins to protest but it's drowned out by a blood-curdling scream. They're running out of time. He has to hastily step forward, otherwise the lives of all their beloved will be lost. But their entwined fingers are stopping him. Her fingers are cool against his blazing hot skin, as per usual. He can easily release himself from her grasp, but the thudding in his heart is preventing him. _

"_Please," he chokes out, on the verge of tears._

"_I'm not going to reconsider."_

_Her hands don't tremble and her face shows no traces of fear. While in one hand she's linked with him, in her other she holds the only weapon she has. It's not a sword, nothing of the sort, but through her life it's given her that sense of security. _

_She reaches up on her tiptoes and captures his lips. It's a scorching kiss full of passion and longing as well as all the feelings and thoughts that had gone unsaid. She puts in no urgency in the kiss, showing him that this isn't a goodbye. They will always be with each other; whether this world or the next, it no longer mattered as long as she was by his side. _

_They reluctantly pull away from one another. They both have tears streaming from their wet eyes but only he bothers to wipe them away. He plasters on a grin for her. _

"_Guess it's now or never, huh?"_

_It was the same nonchalant and arrogant attitude that she loves. She nods at him and grips his hand. Together, they stroll into the forest to face whatever fate has in store for them._

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><p><strong>I - Fiery Encounters<strong>

_So this is what freedom tastes like_, she thought, taking a sip from the mug in her hands. Yes, she was finally free from all the rules, the orders and that prison she had once called 'home'.

Lucy had always thought about running away but it had taken nearly eighteen years for her to finally put the plan in motion. And here she was now, in a Diner far from her father's house, alone and drinking a cup of hot chocolate that was definitely not good for her health. _Freedom at last._

She paid for her food with a few jewels and left the Diner, backpack slung over her shoulder. She stepped onto the pavement and looked around the beautiful town that shone in the sunlight. She had stumbled into this quaint town last night. The first thing she had found was the local Inn which looked innocent and cute. The owner, an elderly woman named Hilda with many wrinkles, had frowned disapprovingly at her short skirt and tight top but had given her a room for only 1200 jewels (per night).

Lucy knew she couldn't stay in the town forever; she was already thinking of where to go next. It was obvious she had to leave this town and go to another town, farther away, where her father would never find her. She'd move to a different country if it meant she would never be found!

And this town, like many others, was boring and mundane. The townspeople seemed not to mind or even realize their town's dullness. The most interesting thing that possibly went on in this godforsaken town was assumingly, at the most, the days when the Grocery sellers sell ripe tomatoes.

As a child, Lucy had dreamed about living in a meek little town, like this one, where all the people got along and always said hello to one another as they passed. She had wished that she would get a small little house, a job in a bakery or as a teacher, and then meet the man of her dreams whom she would marry and have a billion kids with. As the years flew by, she saw no luck that would bestow her and give her the chance to live out her dream. Her father had imprisoned her in the spacious mansion, with no intent of letting her out to live the life of a small-time girl. She had been provided no amusement; it had driven her to the extent to yearn for, not the simple life of a commoner, but for adventure and adrenaline.

A large crowd of people caught her attention. They were all _oo_-ing and _ahh_-ing at something in fascination. Paint drying was fascinating for these towns-people, but still, Lucy was curious as to what they were all crowding around.

"Hey! Stop pushing!" someone shouted at her when she tried to squeeze through the crowd. Lucy ignored them and continued forward, getting squished against many people in the process – some of whom tried to grope her back; and there she had thought all townspeople were nice and neighborly!

Finally, she saw what they were all awing at with captivation.

In the centre was a guy, around Lucy's age. He was lean yet muscular, his six-pack clearly visible to all because he wore no shirt, just a black waist-coat and a white scaly scarf, along with a pair of short white trousers and black sandals. His fiery pink hair was bright in the sun, in comparison to his black eyes which were dark like coal.

But they weren't staring at him because of odd appearance. The boy was juggling _fireballs_. He played with them like they were the usual tennis balls you juggle with, not blazing flames that could burn you to a crisp. He threw them around, gaining speed, and Lucy watched in amazement. Then, for the final trick, the boy threw all the fireballs up and when they all fell back down…

He caught them all in his mouth. And _swallowed_.

_He… he ate fire!_ Lucy thought it shock. _No… that can't be! The fire must be fake!_ The boy burped, and a few clouds of smoke escaped his mouth.

Then, just when Lucy thought it couldn't get any stranger, she heard a squeaky voice shouting from up above. For a minute she had the idiotic thought that angels were calling out, applauding the eccentric act, but then she realized how foolish she was being. She tilted her head up at the cloudless blue sky to spot the source of the voice.

Were her eyes playing tricks on her? She shielded her eyes from the glare of the blazing sun in order to see more clearly. _No, it's still there!_ Apparently her eyes weren't weakening. There really was a sky-blue cat with angelic white wings flying around above the crowd.

_A cat._

_That flies._

And also talks, because then the same squeaky voice came from the cat, joyfully shouting, "The carnival is coming! The carnival is coming!"

From its tiny green backpack, the cat took out some flyers and tossed them around. "Watch the fire-eating, fire-breathing Salamander perform again at the Fairy Tail carnival!" it squeaked again with excitement.

_Oh, so he works in a carnival!_ Lucy thought in realization. _He really is strange._ A flyer floated down and she grabbed it. The flyer was colourful, with bold letters saying 'Fairy Tail Carnival'. The 'Salamander' was on the flyer, cheeks puffed up and actually _breathing_ out fire, along with the flying cat.

**Come to the Fairy Tail Carnival!** It read. **Food, games, rides and much more! For two nights only! Watch our circus perform at 10!**

A carnival that doubled as a circus? _So cool!_ she thought with a grin. Never had she once been to a carnival or seen a circus. Her father had thought of the thing as being ridiculous and the people being filthy illiterate commoners with no other skills. Not that he would have taken her out anywhere that excelled his standards – he was too absorbed by his work. Lucy wouldn't have been surprised if he was too consumed by his work to have even noticed the absence of his one and only daughter.

_You're never too old to go to a carnival,_ Lucy told herself. Maybe she could stay in the town for another night or two…

She wondered into an alley – a shortcut to the Inn – and thought about what other acts would perform. The Salamander was incredibly cool, but would everyone else be as fantastic as him? And what other tricks could he do, anyway? Lucy was dying to find out.

Being lost in her thoughts, Lucy was an easy target. A figure lunged at her, his claws latching onto her bag and ripping it off of her, pushing her to the floor. Hastily, he ran. "Hey!" she shouted, pushing herself up. "My bag!"

She pushed herself up and with determination she pursued after the man who had stolen her bag. Her bag had all her possessions. All her jewels, clothes, and some precious items her mother had entrusted with Lucy before she had died…

Someone ran past her with great speed. All she saw was a glance of pinkish hair. The Salamander!

Suddenly she found herself in a ring of fire. The fire danced around her, heat waves jumping around and making her feel dizzy and faint-headed. There was no escape. She wasn't the only one in the ring of fire, Salamander and the thief were there too. The thief was looking around for an escape, fearful and sweating with panic.

"Give her bag back," Salamander told the thief, giving him a glare more scorching than the flames. His carefree attitude was gone and he was frightening the thief - and Lucy, a little.

The other man was taller than Salamander but no match for him. "I told you to give her bag back!" Salamander shouted. Unexpectedly, his hands were suddenly drenched with fire. He balled his hand into a fist and looked like he was going to take an aim at the thief.

_Fire-breather, fire-eater, fire everything!_ Lucy thought in shock. His hands were covered in the dancing red flames. _He's really amazing!_ The thief seemed to think so too, because he dropped to his knees, tears running down his face, and dropped her bag also. "Okay, okay!" he cried. "Don't hit me!"

Salamander's hands were no longer covered in flames now and they were no longer surrounded with fire. The thief, no realizing this, got up and ran away. Lucy looked around, glad to see that the town was still intact, the only trace of the fire was a circle of black soot. The towns-people were all staring at her and the Salamander with shock, whispering to their friends and chattering in hushed voices.

"Here," Salamander said to her, holding out her bag. His hands, she noticed, weren't burnt or covered with soot. She looked back at his face and saw that he was grinning. _Huh?_

"Um, thanks," Lucy said with slight hesitation. _This Salamander character is really strange. Just a second ago he had looked so scary!_ She took her bag and hugged it to her chest. The keys were with her again. _Who cares if he's weird? He got my stuff back!_ She smiled at him. "Really, thanks so much!"

… … …

Less then ten minutes later she's back at the Diner, but this time with Salamander and his pet cat who introduced himself as 'Happy'.

"Faahhnks zo mwuch," Salamander said to her with his mouth full of the meal she was treating him.

"You're welcome," she said to him, watching with shock as he practically inhaled his food. The same went for Happy, whom she had also treated to a meal because he was just so cute. "Slow down, Salamander," she said as food flew around everywhere. _Oh no, is it in my hair?_

"Whaah?" he said, looking up from his plate. Thankfully, he swallowed before continuing to talk. "Why do you keep calling me that? My name's Natsu."

"Natsu?" she repeated. "Oh, so Salamander's your stage name." Natsu nodded and then started to eat again.

_Natsu… it means summer, doesn't it?_ Lucy thought. It suited Natsu; he kept smiling and grinning a bright smile. And his hair was a wonderful color – like the beautiful cherry blossoms her mother had planted in their garden which she just loved.

"Natsu's a pretty name," she thought aloud. He looked up from his food to glower at her. "I- I mean it's a really cool-" _wait, is calling his name 'cool' considered an insult since he controls fire?_ "- I mean, it's a really nice name," she said, nervously laughing. _He really does have a fiery glare._

Natsu just carried on eating. "I'm Lucy," she told him and he nodded into his food.

Incredibly, he was already finished with his large meal and let out a loud burp with caused the water in the glasses to vibrate. "Pardon me," he said after. _Well, at least he has _some _manners. _

After an awkward silence, he spoke again to say, "You should be more careful with your stuff."

"Aye!" Happy agreed. "Someone might take it again."

"Don't worry," she told him, a blush of embarrassment covering her cheeks. "I'm keeping an eye on my bag from now on."

Happy and Natsu shared a smirk which had Lucy more than confused. _They really are a strange bunch,_ she thought. _But at least they care about me. _Just to be sure, Lucy glanced down to her feet where she had placed her bag.

It wasn't there. Panic spread across her face and her heart stopped beating for a ¼ of a second before it resumed beating when she heard stifled snickering. She looked back up, furious to see that they were _giggling_.

"You idiots!" she shouted at them, blood rushing to her cheeks as and smoke coming out of her ears. "You- you -" she stopped, unable to find a certain word to describe the buffoons. Instead, she let out a string of unladylike words (crude swears and utter nonsense). "Give it back, you _baka!"_

Still sniggering, Happy pulled out her bag from the seat beside him and flung it at Lucy. Being completely surprised, Lucy flailed her arms around but was unable to catch the bag, allowing it to _smack_ into her face.

This only made Natsu begin to howl with laughter and clutch his sides from all his heckling. Happy joined in, rolling over the table with actual tears in his eyes.

She clenched her fists in sheer annoyance and resisted rubbing her sore nose. No, that would only make them chuckle harder. She hastily stood up, actually _stomping her foot_, and grabbed her bag. With a swift turn she began to leave.

"W- Wait!" Natsu called after her, trying to get rid of his painful laughter.

Lucy quickly turned. A hopeful smile lit up her face in anticipation of an apology.

"You said you'd pay," he told her.

Lucy almost cried out in irritation. _Gah! They wouldn't even let me make a dramatic exit!_ She slapped down some jewels on the table to cover the cost of the food and turned on her heel to leave.

Again, she was thwarted, but this time it was because Natsu had scrambled off of his seat to grab her wrist. His grasp on her was soft and gentle, yet incredibly strong. Reluctantly, she turned to face him _again_, now with an aggravated look upon her face. "What, Natsu?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Aw, don't be like that! Look, we're sorry!" he said in apology.

"Aye, _really_ sorry!" Happy insisted, standing also. His wings were retracted so he was on his feet, making Lucy realize just how _tiny_ he was. He was too adorable and the pout that he started to give made him almost impossible to insist.

Her gaze returned back up to Natsu, who was also giving the exact same lost puppy-dog look. _The pet takes after the owner, huh? It looks like it's the other way around…_

"Okay, okay!" she told them, "Apology accepted."

Happy clapped out of accomplishment and Natsu did the same. "Don't forget this!" Happy said before she could leave.

"What?" She looked down at the small bipedal cat and saw him holding out the flyer for the carnival. "Oh," she said, crouching down to take it from Happy.

She smiled at the flyer Happy and Natsu sure were a pair. They were like best friends but _more_. They even did things in unison. She stood back up and noticed Natsu was studying her face. "Well?" he expectedly asked

"What?"

"Are you going?" There was a barest whisper of hope in his voice. Hope that she would go?

Her voice got lost in her throat. _Is he… asking me out on a date?_ Lucy couldn't help but beam at him. "And see your amazing fire skills? Of course I'm going!" she told him.

He grinned back at her and Lucy left, wondering why her heart was beating so fast.


	2. Oddity Friends

Thank you so much for giving this story a chance. Over 200 hits? Wow =D  
>And thanks for all those who reviewed and left some feedback. (And thanks for pointing out my mistakes)<p>

While this story was written by the one and only moi, I don't own Fairy Tail.

Now be prepared to meet the mages…

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><p><em>The gown was full-skirted, long and flowing with lace trimmings. And it was exactly like all the other beautiful expensive gowns she owned, except this one was a hideous pale pink color. She sighed in melancholy and reluctantly slipped into the gown she had been given. She had wished that she had instead received the book she had been longing for, 'Alice's Adventure in Wonderland'.<em>

"_At least he remembered," she reminded herself in a small thankful whisper. Carefully, she lifted the skirt of the gown and slipped into her cream-colored shoes._

_Cautious not to step and trip on her gown, she went to the windows of her room and drew back the silk curtains to let the light spill into her spacious bedroom. Behind the far mountains, the sun was peaking out, slowly rising and filling the clouded sky with light. _

_Closer to the huge intimidating mansion she called home were acres of green grass – the garden. The emerald green grass was bathing in the new sunlight in joy. She hoped that somewhere, lost in the mass of green, was a fluffy white rabbit ready to take her away._

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><p><strong>II - Oddity Friends<strong>

She was, like most teenage girls her age, obsessed about clothes. What to wear, what not to, the latest fashion and etc. But for Lucy, she had to be careful about what clothes she bought. Jewels were not something that she could recklessly spend.

But there she was, walking back to the Inn with her hands full with shopping bags. She shouldn't have bought so much. _Really, Lucy?_ She thought with bitterness and irritation at herself. _So many clothes! I'll have to get a part-time job!_

And all for what, too? To go to a carnival? That certainly wasn't worth all the effort. It was for him. _Natsu._ All this effort for some boy? But he wasn't just some boy. He'd made her heart beat so fast and now she was nervous to see him again.

_It's not like he'll even care what I wear!_ The smart, intelligent and self-assured side of herself thought. _He doesn't even wear a shirt? Do you really think he'll care?_ she reminded herself as she debated whether to wear a pleated black skirt of jean miniskirt.

_Black skirt, definitely, _the girly part of Lucy decided. _It'll go great with the boots! Now, what top…?_

Her father would most certainly not approve her choice of clothing. The only clothes he had allowed her to wear, back in the dark days, were long ball gowns which had had millions of silkworms massacred to create. They were extremely expensive also, but her father hadn't cared about that. All he'd cared about was for his daughter to hold the image of a sophisticated and high-class woman so he could tell the world that this was his 'beloved' daughter whom he had raised.

_I shouldn't be thinking about him while getting ready for my first date, _she thought, uncertain which 'side' of her had suggested that. Then her eyes widened in realization of what she'd just thought. _Wait, who said this was a date? _Is _it a date?_

_How would I know, I've never been on a date before!_ Lucy nearly slapped herself. _Am I arguing with _myself_? What's that Natsu done to me…?_

She cringed. This boy was having more affect on her than she'd thought. It was normal to feel like this, she was a teenage girl, but she was different from other girls. For one, she had no one else to turn to for advice or comfort.

_Mom, I wish you were here now. I really need some girl talk._

She fixed her purple halter-top and her medium-length blond hair and then headed to the door.

_Wait_. She stopped and looked back at the room she was staying in. Hilda, the owner of the Inn, had told her that no one other than the occupant and herself were able to get into the rooms, so her things were safe. However, there was an odd feeling in Lucy that made her reach into her bag and get out the items her mother had delegated her and the others she, herself, had come into the possession of.

They were keys, but they didn't open just any ordinary door. She hooked them onto her belt, made sure that they were secure, and then finally headed to the carnival.

… … …

"_Wow_," she said in awe as she entered the carnival. There were booths everywhere, twinkling fairy lights, kids running about screaming and even a _Ferris wheel_. In the distance, she could see a huge striped tent. _That must be where we'll watch the circus acts._

"_Luuuucyyyyyyy_," A voice shouted loudly. Lucy looked around, her eyes landing on Natsu, whom was running to her with excitement. He barged into many people in the process, yet his grin still remained.

_Wow, he's really happy to see me! _Lucy felt herself go red. _Speaking of Happy, where is he?_ The flying cat seemed to be nowhere in sight. Before she could give it another thought, Natsu forgot how to brake and ran _straight into her!_

"Ahhh!" she screamed as she staggered back. Unable to regain balance, she fell to the floor with Natsu toppled on top of her. Though she thought it wasn't possible, Lucy grew redder. "Get off me!" she shouted at him.

"Oof," Natsu said as Lucy pushed him off and he rolled onto the floor, beside her. "You're really strong," he said in surprise. Lucy glared at him.

Natsu quickly arose and held out his hand to her. She smiled a little and took it. He pulled her up with no effort at all. _And he thought _I_ was strong!_

"C'mon!" he said. Unexpectedly, he started running, hauling her along.

"W- where are we going?" she asked, trying to keep up with him. _Thank goodness I didn't wear the high-heels!_

Natsu didn't answer, but continued running, and they whizzed past many booths. The people in the booths – Natsu's circus friends – shouted out to him as they passed.

Finally, they stopped to a halt. Just in time too because Lucy was nearly out of breathe. She crouched over to catch her breathe and saw a pair of feet dainty feet in Mary Jane flats in front of her.

"Hello Natsu," the voice of a little girl's said. Lucy straightened up and saw a small girl was standing in front of her and Natsu. "Hi!" the girl said to her with a bright smile.

"Lucy, this is my sister Wendy," Natsu told Lucy. She looked from Wendy to Natsu, confused. Wendy looked around 12-years-old with long dark blue hair and an adorable face with brown eyes.

"I'm not really Natsu's sister," Wendy said, blushing and she tucked her hands behind her back. She wore cute blue and yellow summer dress.

Natsu frowned at Wendy. "Of course you're my sister," he told her. "You're my family – my nakama!"

Lucy felt warm-hearted as she watched their exchange. She'd never had any brothers or sisters but knew the bond between Natsu and Wendy was strong. There was a pang in her heart because she knew she would never have anything as special as they did.

"Nice to meet you," Lucy said to Wendy.

"Likewise!" Wendy said, grinning. "Where were you taking her, Natsu?"

"I'm giving her a tour," he answered. "Wanna join?"

"Sorry, Charle told me I had to meet her at the tent. I need to help set up," Wendy explained. "Are you going to stay to watch the show?" she asked Lucy with hopeful eyes.

"Yep!" she said. "What do you do?" she asked with curiosity. Unlike Natsu, Wendy looked normal – apart from the weird wing design on her sandals. She looked so innocent too; what was a girl like her doing working at a carnival?

Wendy opened her mouth to answer but Natsu cut her off. "Is Happy with Charle?" he asked.

"He's still taking his cat nap," Wendy replied. "I better get going or else Charle will get worried," she said before waving and running off.

"Who's Charle?" Lucy asked once the girl was out of sight. "Her Mom?"

Natsu sadly shook his head. "No. But Charle acts like her Mom all the time."

Lucy frowned. _Where's Wendy's Mom?_ She thought in wonder. _Was Wendy abandoned? Or worse, had Wendy's Mom…_

At least Wendy had found the people of Fairy Tail. If they were all like Natsu, whom had called Wendy his sister even though there was no blood relation, then Wendy had a great family to care for her.

Lucy's shaken out of her thoughts when Natsu started pulling her to a booth that looked more like a small café with a counter and stools outside it for the customers to sit on. "First meet Mira," he said.

Behind the counter, in the booth, was a woman a little older than Lucy. She had the most beautiful long silky white hair to her small waist and a bright smile. Warmth and kindness radiated from her. "Hey Natsu," she said. "Who's your friend?" she asked, her crystal blue eyes darting to Lucy's hand that Natsu was still holding.

Lucy went pink. "I- I'm Lucy," she introduced herself. This woman was so beautiful and much more attractive than her! Lucy couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, despite the fact that Mirajane seemed nothing but friendly.

"I'm Mirajane," the woman said, flashing a dazzling smile. _Mirajane is so pretty! She can probably get any boy she wants. Maybe Natsu…_

She glanced at Natsu, wondering if he liked Mirajane. _Why else would he have introduced me to Mira first?_ She followed Natsu's longing gaze and gave out a breath of relief when she saw it was on the cupcakes on the shelf at the back of the booth. _Because he was hungry! I should have expected that._

"Natsu, you're drooling," Lucy said in disgust. Mira laughed and brought the cupcakes from the shelf and then placed them on the counter.

"Here you are, Natsu," Mira said and Natsu relinquished his hold on Lucy's hand to sit down on the stool and dig into the food. Lucy found herself missing his warm touch but quickly dismissed the feeling with a blush.

Natsu swallowed one cupcake whole. Lucy didn't know why she was still so surprised when she had seen him eat a damn _fireball_ earlier that day. "Aren't you going to have one?" Natsu asked, holding out the chocolate dessert.

(Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Mira look surprised for a second before her face melted into a warm smile.)

"N- No, I shouldn't," Lucy hesitantly said. "I mean, Mira made them and-"

"Feel free and take one!" Mira encouraged her. Natsu pushed the cupcake to her and Lucy had no choice but to take it. It was absolutely _delicious_. "Go ahead and take another," Mira told her. "Free of charge! Any friend of Natsu's is a friend of mine!"

Mira smiled at her and Lucy easily returned it. "It's good to see Natsu acting normally again," Mira said, glancing at him. Natsu had continued to pig out on the food.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Earlier, he got back from promoting the show in the town. When he came back it was lunchtime and, as you can see, Natsu loves his meals," she motioned to the greedy Natsu, "but he only ate a few bites of his lunch. It's really unlike him to not eat all his food – or share it with anyone," she added, giving a knowing look to Lucy. "He said he ate with a friend in town but no one believed him."

"Hey!" Natsu said with his mouth full. "I can make friends!"

Mira and Lucy giggled at him. "So, Lucy, are you local?" Mirajane asked her.

"No, I'm just passing through," Lucy truthfully answered.

"Oh, you're travelling. Any place particular you're travelling to?"

"Uh," Lucy said, giving out a nervous laugh. "Not really."

Thankfully, Mirajane then dropped the subject of travelling. "Where are you going to show her next, Natsu?" she asked him. "Let me guess, the dunk tank?"

Natsu nodded. Lucy asked, "What's so special about the dunk tank?"

"It's Gray Fullbuster who you have to dunk," Mirajane explained. "And he and Natsu aren't the greatest of friends."

When Natsu finished eating, he got up from his seat, thanked Mirajane, and then grabbed hold of Lucy's hand again. "Next stop, the dunk tank!" he said. "Ice Boy won't know what hit him! See ya, Mira!" he added to the white-haired girl.

"Bye, you two! See you later in the tent!" Mira shouted after them as Natsu dragged Lucy to the dunk tank.

Sitting on a plastic seat on top of the four-foot deep tank, full to the brim with water, was someone she assumed was the 'Gray' Natsu had talked about. Gray was lean and muscular like Natsu but had jet black spiky hair and matching black eyes. He was only wearing a pair of swim trunks and Lucy could see an odd blue tattoo on his chest, below his collarbone. _Huh, his tattoo looks like the one Natsu has on his arm._

"Hey, Fullbuster!" Natsu shouted, catching Gray's attention. "We still need to settle our fight from earlier!"

"What're you talking about?" Gray shouted back with a smirk. "I won!"

"Yeah right!" Natsu snorted.

While Natsu and Gray continued to argue, Lucy noticed the girl giving out the tennis balls to throw at the target. The girl looked a lot like Mirajane, only younger with extremely short white hair. The girl caught Lucy looking and motioned her over.

"You must be that friend Natsu was talking about," the girl said to Lucy with a friendly smile. "I'm Lisanna."

"Lucy," she introduced herself. She glanced back at Gray and Natsu who were still arguing, oblivious to the customers throwing the balls at the target (all failing miserably). "Are they always like that?"

"Pretty much," Lisanna answered. "At least they're not fighting like usual. Gray's not allowed out of his seat."

"Lisanna!" Natsu suddenly shouted, approaching them with determination. "Pass me a tennis ball!"

"Sorry, Natsu, you know what Erza will say if you try to dunk Gray," Lisanna warned him.

"Not if she doesn't catch me," Natsu said, but for a second there he had looked a little frightened. _Who's Erza?_ She wondered. Natsu took a tennis ball from Lisanna.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Lisanna said as Natsu took aim.

With just one shot, Natsu was able to hit the target. Gray yelped as he came crashing down into the dunk tank with a loud _splash!_ Natsu grinned triumphantly and started laughing gleefully until he froze when he came face to face with a tall, scarlet-haired woman with her eyes narrowed at Natsu. Shivers sped down Lucy's spine. The woman – Erza, she guessed – was most terrifying. She wore a blue skirt and knee-length black boots and shiny armour. But her tough looking armour was nothing compared to her intense glare. _I'm so glad I'm not Natsu._

"Erza!" Natsu exclaimed in alarm. He swiftly went to the water-filled tank, where Gray was already standing in, and slung an arm over Gray's shoulder, who copied. They plastered fake grins over their faces but their nervousness was distinguishable on their faces. "Look, see! We're best friends!"

"Just having some fun!" Gray agreed.

"I see…" Erza said, eyes still narrowed. She watched the pair of so called 'best friends' for another minute. "Well, don't have this type of 'fun' anymore; let the locals have a turn."

"Anything you say, Erza!" Natsu and Gray said in unison. They kept grinning until Erza finally left, and then the two released one another, growling.

"Are they that scared or Erza?" Lucy asked Lisanna in shock. She agreed that the woman with beautiful long scarlet hair was fearsome but was she so threatening that she'd make arch enemies Gray and Natsu act like best friends?

"Yes, believe it or not," Lisanna answered with a laugh. "She keeps everyone in check but she's actually really nice once you get to know her," she added, nodding.

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu approached her, "Let's go!" He seized her arm again.

As he started leading her away from the dunk tank, Lucy glanced back at Lisanna. The girl looked somewhat hurt as she watched Natsu drag Lucy away. _She likes him_, Lucy thought in realization. _As more than friends._ It made her heart hurt. Lisanna was Natsu's old friend, nakama. How was Lucy going to compete with her?

"Hey Natsu!" a feminine voice called, snapping Lucy out of her thoughts. She looked for the source of the voice.

The woman had long beautiful brunette hair and dark brown eyes hidden behind glasses. She was wearing a low-cut top that exposed her green tattoo on her… bosom. She was extremely attractive to say the least. And she was working in a _kissing booth_ with a large line of eager men as customers (and a few girls?).

"I'm not kissing you, Evergreen!" Natsu shouted at the woman. Clearly this was an automatic response. _How many times has she asked him to kiss her?_ Lucy wondered.

"Like I'd want to kiss you!" Evergreen snapped, and then slyly smiled. "I just need a break, and I was wondering if your friend could take over for me?"

Lucy went beetroot red and Natsu frowned at Evergreen. The guys queuing started to protest until they caught sight of Lucy and then started staring at her with longing.

"Let's go," Natsu said and started leading her away from the kissing booth, for which she was grateful. Natsu was being so protective, so… jealous?

"Wait!" Lucy said, digging her heels into the ground so Natsu would halt. "This is a _carnival_! Aren't there supposed to be games?"

"Games, huh?" he said, grinning.

"What are you -" She yelped when Natsu pulled her to one of the booths.

It was a typical coconut shack booth where you had to throw a ball to knock down the coconuts – except here you had odd shaped exotic dolls. There were two men managing the booth. One had on a medieval-style visor which hid his eyes was very tall and muscular and his maniacal grin gave off a very intimidating atmosphere. In comparison, the other guy who was smaller with long black hair looked most calm as he casually leant against the booth and twirled around a toy gun.

"'Sup, Bixlow?" Natsu said to the guy wearing a visor.

"What've you got there, Natsu?" Bixlow asked, sticking his tongue out and inspecting Lucy from head to toe. _Pervert!_

"That's Lucy," Natsu said. "She wants to play."

"You don't say?" Bixlow said, an impish grin on his face. "Oi, Zack! Give her a dart gun!"

"Dart gun?" Lucy repeated in confusion. "Aren't I supposed to use a tennis ball or something?"

"No, you just have to shoot at the dolls," the hatless Cowboy with the poncho explained, handing her a toy dart gun. "And it's _Al_zack," he added to Bixlow with a scowl.

"Just shoot? That's easy!" Lucy said, taking aim.

"Ya think? Show her what you got, babies," Bixlow laughed and then suddenly the dolls were floating and defying gravity – no strings attached to them or anything fake. _It's not only Natsu who's impressive,_ Lucy thought in wonder. This magic or whatever was really extraordinary. They dolls danced around in the booth, flying so fast it made Lucy dizzy.

"Hey, go easy on her," Alzack said, making Lucy frown.

"What did you just say?" Lucy turned to him, eyes blazing with anger. She hated to be underestimated, although now he was right to think that this was too difficult for her. Hit a flying object? How could anyone win this game? Nevertheless, she shot Alzack a fierce glare almost as fierce as Erza's.

Alzack gulped while Bixlow and Natsu laughed. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Nats-" Bixlow was cut off when Lucy swivelled around, aimed her dart gun at him, and fired.

The plastic sucker-tipped dart stuck to its target: Bixlow's tongue that he seemed prone to stick out. Natsu and Alzack burst out laughing as Bixlow tried to pull it off. Dramatically, Lucy blew the tip of the gun like in those old Western Cowboy movies.

"Let's get out of here before he takes off his mask," Natsu said.

"What happens if he takes off his mask?" Lucy asked as she handed the dart gun back to Alzack.

"You see his ugly face!" Natsu laughed and ran, Lucy following.

Running through the carnival with Natsu made her feel like a little kid. It was just so _fun_. She had never experienced this kind of thing when it had just been her and her father. When her mother had been around, they had played together, going on walks around their vast garden and taking swims in their pool. But after she's gone, Lucy had been alone with just her imagination.

That didn't seem to be the case around here. Everyone in Fairy Tail was so exciting and amusing. She'd imagined circus people to be freaky and somewhat weird… and she'd been right. Most people, take Bixlow, for example, were strange and wore the downright weirdest things. Lucy almost wished she had stayed to see what he'd really looked like without the mask.

But everyone was friendly too. Reedus the artist was quite shy but extremely talented. He allowed her to look at his previous pieces of work. Most of the drawings and paintings were of Mirajane and Lucy could see why: Mira was beautiful and inspiring. Reedus started to draw a picture of Lucy and took his time, trying to achieve perfection. Unfortunately, Lucy never got to see the finishing of the drawing because childish Natsu got impatient and dragged her off to see Juvia.

At first glance, Juvia seemed timid. Her hair was a silky blue color and curled on the outside and she wore an odd Russian getup. She looked shy, never meeting anyone's eye, but her mouth that was stretched in a thin line curved into a small smile when she spotted Natsu and Lucy. For a fleeting moment, Lucy thought that she had finally met someone normal…

Until Juvia opened her mouth and demanded to know if she was after Gray.

That panicking and worrying she had felt about what to wear for Natsu? It was nothing compared to the obsession of Gray that Juvia had. And her outrageous paranoia that every single girl was in love with Gray was ridiculous. _Oh well,_ Lucy thought, _it looks like no one here is normal._ As Juvia daydreamed about Gray and his abs, Lucy examined her. Juvia had a voluptuous figure and, obsession and paranoia aside, she was benevolent. Lucy hoped that they got together soon – for the sake of all the girls out there who's eyes lingered on Gray for a second too long.

Another couple who were yet to unite were Bisca and Alzack. Bisca, like seemingly _all_ the women in Fairy Tail, was beautiful. She ran the petting-zoo that held many exotic animals from a magnificent pony to a baby elephant. "You know, you and Alzack are dressed kind of alike," she noted to the green-haired girl, looking from her cowboy-hat to her red cowboy-boots. "It almost looks like you're a couple." The cream to rosy pink color on Bisca's cheeks didn't go unnoticed.

As Lucy stroked the pony's mane, she realized something. It was the girls who had the crushes. Lisanna had a crush on Natsu, Juvia on Gray, Bisca on Alzack. Yet the boys were oblivious. Were they stupid with the incapability to see when someone was interested in them?

"Oi, wake up, Luce!" Natsu said, tugging at her arm. "We've gotta go."

She huffed in annoyance. "You've been dragging me around for hours now. Can't we sit down for a minute?" She mentally cursed at herself for not wearing in her boots beforehand. Her poor feet had blisters with blisters.

"Just a bit further," he reassured her.

"Where now?" she asked with irritation but allowed him to pull her along.

"To get your fortune told!"

_What's the harm with a few more blisters?_

* * *

><p>Drop a review or PM me if you have a question or think the characters are OOC or I overlooked some mistakes (many apologies.)<p> 


	3. Truthful Tarots

So, my parents gave in and finally got me a laptop because the computer broke down _again._ And thank goodness for memory sticks.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

><p><em>"Mama," she'd once said on of the nights her beautiful mother was tucking her small child into bed. "Mama, what are horoscopes?"<em>

_"Where did you hear such a word?" her mother asked in reply, a hint of bitterness in her melodious voice._

_"Ms Daffodil, the new maid," she answered. "What are horoscopes?" she asked again, more eager and impatient._

_"Well, horoscopes are like fortune-telling, except you use your zodiac sign and the planet alignments and positions to tell the future." She looked at her young daughter who was wide-eyed with fascination. "But," she added and her daughter's magical smile faded away, "they don't work."_

_Subconsciously, she stuck her bottom lip out in dismay. "So, you can't tell the future?"_

_Her mother gave out a harmonic laugh. "Just because horoscopes don't work, doesn't mean you can't tell the future."_

_Her face lit up again in delight. "How?" she asked in anticipation._

_"Well there's always tarot card-reading. That's when you pick out these cards with your fortunes drawn on them."_

_"And they work?"_

_"If it's the right person reading them," she answered with a shrug. "But you shouldn't be worrying about the future," she told her, affectionately smoothing her daughter's gorgeous blond locks. "You're still a child, you should be focused about the present."_

_"But can't I know what happens in the future?" she asked in frustration. Her father was extremely rich, able to get her anything money could buy. However, she doubted he could buy her a way to find out what mysteries the murky future held._

_"Sometimes you shouldn't know. Just leave it to fate." _

* * *

><p><strong>III - Truthful Tarots<strong>

Shivers ran down Lucy's spine as she stepped towards the small mysterious purple tent with anticipation. Although she had never had her fortune told, she deeply believed that whatever future they revealed would be true. But what future did she have? She had no home, no real family. She had absolutely no idea what her future held, if she even had one.

"Natsu, let's go back," Lucy pleaded. Now, the mere idea of knowing what her future held was terrifying. "Look, Cana's on her break!" she added, regarding the sign saying '_Madame Cana is now on her ten minute break'_.

"Pfft, who cares about that," Natsu scoffed. He sent a negligent wave with his hand at the sign and said, "That's to the customers, not to us." He proceeded to the tent. He went inside the small tent, forcing Lucy to follow. "Cana will be happy to see me!"

The knife-sharp tarot card that was flung at Natsu said otherwise. Luckily, Natsu narrowly dodged it but collided with Lucy, bumping heads. Her head pounded in pain and all she could see nothing but flying stars.

"Can't you read the sign, Natsu?" A woman spoke in brackishness. Lucy blinked several times until all the luminous stars were gone and she could clearly see the room.

The first thing that surprised her was the rancid smell of beer. It wasn't unpleasant but mostly shocking because Lucy had expected the smell of incense or herbs. _It's a fortune-telling, not a séance!_ She reminded herself, although having no clue what a séance was like either.

The tent was dark, with the only sources of light being the fairy lights from outside, seeping through the tent, and the dim lamp on the table in the centre.

The woman who had spoken was sitting on a comfy chair – 'Madame' Cana. She had long wavy brown hair and striking blue eyes that were illuminated by the lamp. She was wearing a bikini-style top that revealed a tattoo – just like Gray's and Natsu's- on her waist.

"Ah, so this must be the girl Charle had a premonition about,"Cana said, remarking Lucy with calculating eyes. She looked the blond up and down with scrutiny before her face broke out into a giant smile. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Cana!"

"Uh, hi," Lucy meekly replied.

"Sit down, girlie! Don't be shy!"Cana told her with a grin. Lucy glanced back to where the tarot card Cana had thrown had missed Natsu to rip through the tent. Obviously, Cana wasn't always a carefree character and could be just as fierce as Erza.

She hesitated but then Natsu gave her a lame, but encouraging, thumbs up. Reluctantly, Lucy sat down opposite Cana. "Wait, let me just finish my drink,"Canasaid. She picked up the huge beer barrel beside her and took a large gulp from it. Lucy watched in awe as she downed the barrel.

"Aren't you going to offer her some, Cana?" Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked at the back of the tent. In the dark shadows sat a man in his mid-thirties sitting on the rug on the floor, drink in hand and a little four-year-old snoozing away on his lap.

"Macao!" Natsu said in excitement. "I didn't know you were back!"

"Just got back a few hours ago,"Macaoreplied.

"Oh, sorry!"Cana apologized to Lucy. She had momentarily stopped drinking. "How undignified of me. Want a drink?" she asked, holding out the large barrel.

"No thanks," Lucy said. "I'm not legal."

"Pfft, who is?" was what Cana replied with a roll of her eyes before taking another lug from the barrel. She stopped, put the barrel away and then wiped her mouth. "Okay, let's get started." She reached into her purse and pulled out a few cards. "Just the short version, alright? After all, I'm on my _break!"_ she shouted the last word at the oblivious Natsu who was trying to coaxMacao into fighting him.

Cana placed them face down on the table in front of her. "Simple enough: just pick 2 cards."

"Eh? Okay," Lucy said and then picked a random card and flipped it over. "What the…"

The first card she had picked had a pink love-heart with many swords pierced through it._ Heartbreak. Is my future going to be that horrible?_ Lucy thought_._ She glanced over at Natsu, who was still trying to persuadeMacao into fighting him.

"Okay, pick another,"Cana said casually, not at all fazed by the card.

Lucy looked at her speechless for a moment but then regained her grip on reality and flipped over another card. Her frown deepened and her eyes widened with shock and horror.

The card had a picture of a hooded figure with a shadowed face who was pointing with a bony white finger. _Death._

_Okay, things got weirder. Am I going to die soon…?_ No, this tarot reading couldn't be accurate. _And anyway, everyone has to die sometime, right?_ She told herself, trying to shake herself of the nerves. She was regretting going with Natsu to get her fortune told.

Cana took both of the cards and Lucy watched in shock as she scrunched them up into balls. Then, surprisingly enough, Cana smoothed out the tarot cards again so they were no longer scrunched up and placed them back in front of Lucy.

They were different cards.

It was no longer Death and up one card and showed it to Lucy. "This card says that you'll face some danger tonight," she said to Lucy, holding up a card that showed a long sword stuck in the ground. It reminded her of the tale of King Arthur. "But, you'll get away unharmed."

"And this,"Cana continued, dropping the card to hold the other tarot card. It showed the zodiac sign of Cancer. "Shows that Cancer will help you out."

_Cancer the Crab…?_ Lucy thought, eyes widening. Her hand automatically went to the keys on her belt. The metal was cold against her fingertips.

"And lastly,"Cana held up another card that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Wait, I only picked two cards," Lucy objected.

"I know. I picked this one a few hours ago, after Charle had a vision about you."

"Vision? She's a psychic?"

Cana shrugged. "I guess you could call it that. But anyway, your third says that, to be blunt, you'll fall in love."

The third card showed an unmarked, undamaged heart with angel wings. The tarot card had a fiery background.

Fortunately – the irony was not lost on her – for her, Natsu was paying no attention. Lucy blushed and looked away, making Cana laugh. "Oh, you're just too adorable, girlie!"

"Oh, are you done now?" Natsu asked. "Cool, let's go Luce. You still have the rest of Fairy Tail to meet!"

Lucy got up from her seat and thanked Cana who just shrugged in reply and got out a beer bottle.

"Okay, where now?" she asked Natsu.

"Wait, you haven't told me what Cana said. So, tell me, what's in your future?" he asked curiously.

Lucy blushed with embarrassment. "Not telling."

"Oh, why not?" he whined. "You're ~_mean_!"

Lucy laughed. Natsu was acting like such a baby. "You didn't tell me what Wendy does for the circus!" she retorted, remarking their earlier conversation with the young girl.

"But that's a secret!"

"Well, so is my future!"

"Fine," Natsu admitted defeat with a pout.

"Oh, wipe that look off of your face and let's go," Lucy said. She started walking in a random direction and Natsu trudged behind her.

As she walked on alone, Lucy's mind wondered back to her 'future'. '_Cancer will help you out'. What does that even mean?_ Her finger delicately traced the outline of one of the gold Keys. _'…you'll face some danger tonight.' _The words echoed in her mind.

… … …

Finally, the night was drawing to a close but they were yet to go on the Ferris wheel. Lucy, having never been on a Ferris wheel, was desperate to go on but Natsu objected to the idea. She continued to dissuade the stubborn Natsu but he was determined not to ride on the Ferris wheel.

"_Pleeeeeeeease,_ Natsu?" she begged him like a bratty child when he wouldn't budge. "Please please please?"

"No, I hate rides!" he protested in a whine for the _gazillionth_ time. Both of them were acting like ridiculous bratty kids.

Lucy pouted like Natsu had done earlier that day in hopes of persuading him. "~_Please?_"

"Ha, it's no use," someone barked out a deep laughed. Lucy looked up at the tall man and gasped. The man whom had spoken was beyond creepy. His long black hair and several piercings made him resemble a punk rocker. However Lucy had an inkling that if she were to tell him this, there would be hell to play. He was extremely muscular too, more so than Natsu.

"W- what do you mean?" she asked, still flummoxed and a little terrified of the man, with good reason as well.

"Little Salamander gets motion sickness," he chuckled again.

The terror Lucy had been feeling before quickly evaporated and she whipped her head back at Natsu in bemusement. "Is that true?" Lucy asked, and she couldn't help but laugh too.

"Are you asking for a fight, Gajeel?" Natsu asked, glowering at him like he had to Gray. _Natsu sure does like getting into fights…_

"Back off, Salamander," Gajeel replied pushing Natsu away.

Someone sighed. Lucy looked for the source of the small sigh and realized that it came from none other than the small black, bipedal cat who stood at Gajeel's feet. "Humans are such noisy people," it sighed again, rolling its yellow eyes.

_Another Happy?_

"Hi," Lucy said, crouching down to look at the cat better. Unlike Happy, this cat looked older and rather grumpy. He - she was assuming that the cat was a he - had an odd scar across his left eye. She wondered if the cat had gotten into a cat fight with Happy or something. The cat noticed her staring and looked at her oddly. Embarassed, she said, "I'm Lucy."

The cat eyed her suspiciously. "I am Pantherlily," he replied.

"Are you Gajeel's cat?" she asked, glancing back up at Gajeel. The guy didn't look like he should be trusted with a cat… or anything small.

"Yep, so keep your paws off him," Gajeel growled, shooting her a glare.

She hastily stood up, flustered. "Hey, I wasn't going to-" Lucy stopped and gawked at Gajeel. "Are you chewing on an iron nail?" she asked in horror.

Gajeel glowered. "So?" he asked, eyes darkening.

"N- Nothing," Lucy stammered in fear of Gajeel. He was definitely someone you should not anger unless you _wanted_ your bones to be broken. _He's kind of like the guy version of Erza,_ Lucy thought in realization. She smiled for a moment at her humorous concept but then the grin immediately vanished from her face. _I shouldn't tell him that._

Lucy adverted her eyes away from Gajeel, nervous that he might have heard what she had thought. Gajeel furrowed his brow at her, perplexed, before rolling his eyes. "Girls," he muttered under his breathe as though this was some form of explanation of Lucy's weird behavior. "So are you two getting on?" he impatiently asked, motioning to the Ferris wheel. "I haven't got all day, y'know."

Lucy turned back to Natsu. "_Pleaaaaase_ Natsu!" she begged. "I've never been on one before!"

"Fine, stop your moping!" Natsu said with a sigh and Lucy grinned. "You're such a weirdo."

Her jaw dropped. "_I'm_ the weirdo? You're the one who can eat fire!"

"She's got you there, Salamander," Gajeel agreed with a laugh.

"You're one to talk!" Lucy said, turning to him and ignoring the eeriness of his face. "You eat _metal_!"

Gajeel glared at Lucy but she was too stubborn to be frightened again. She glowered back at him and Pantherlily suppressed a groan. It was obvious he didn't like the noise or their tomfoolery.

Lucy yelped for the billionth time today when Gajeel, annoyed, pushed her and Natsu into the passenger car.

Lucy gripped the iron bar to stop herself from bouncing up and down in joy. Her first _Ferris wheel ride_! Her excitement quickly dissolved when she glanced over at Natsu.

_When Gajeel said Natsu gets motion sickness, he sure was understating it,_ the blond thought as she watched Natsu turn pale green as the Ferric Wheel started moving. His usual confident and ecstatic look was gone, replaced with pure repulsion.

"Ph, I pity you, Natsu," Lucy softly said as he turned ivory green.

The Ferris wheel halted to a stop while they were at the top. The green washed away from Natsu's face as he looked at the long way down. "Wow, we're so high up!"

"Aren't you scared?" Lucy asked. _How could he be so suddenly relaxed?_ She leant forward to look down. The view of Fairy Tail Carnival was just beautiful. Maybe that was why he looked so joyful again.

"Scared of heights? Yeah right. Happy's carried me higher than this!" Natsu said with laugh. Lucy nearly smiled at Natsu's and Happy's lovely relationship until she realized that she had never had such a strong bond with anyone other than her Mom. Lucy had never had any friends whom weren't maids or nannies or chefs.

"You okay?" Natsu asked her. "You look weird."

"There you go again, always saying I'm weird!" Lucy snapped and Natsu's face fell. "Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I'm just -"

What happens next proves that there's a reason to be scared of heights.

The safety bar didn't prove to provide safety because the nails weren't properly screwed in on Lucy's side of the passenger seat. Lucy, who had been leaning forward against the bar to look at the view found herself close to sliding out the passenger seat. She would have fallen if Natsu hadn't grabbed the hem of her shirt and haul her back onto the seat.

"Thanks, Natsu," she gasped.

"Don't mention it," he said. "Actually, do mention it."

"Huh?"

"First, I save you bag, next I save you from falling. All in one day! Danger likes to follow you around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with a glare.

Natsu laughed. "Don't worry, I like danger. But promise me you won't get into anymore trouble today, okay?"

"It's not like I _purposely –_"

"Promise," he said, this time with a serious expression which dumfounded Lucy.

"I promise," she told him, looking him straight in the eye. He looked so somber, as if he really cared for her and her safety although they had only known one another for such a short amount of time. She also realized how close his face was to hers. She could hear him breathing evenly and his breathe smelt sweet like the cupcakes he'd eaten. He seemed to be inching closer to her, or was it the other way around? It was almost as if…

"Natsu!" a voice shouted from in front of them. They both jumped and Lucy nearly banged her nose against Natsu. _Who was that who spoke?_ It was extremly strange that someone had spoken, considering the fact that they were over 12 feet up in the sky.

Lucy whipped her head away from Natsu. "What the- _Happy?_!"

"Do not confuse me for that tomcat!" the cat angrily shouted at her.

Yes, this cat certainly wasn't Happy. Or… happy. The cat was female, for one, and had white-pink fur with pink ears. Unlike Happy, she wore actual clothes too. She had a permanant scowl on her face with her arms crossed.

"What do you want, Charle?" Natsu asked the cat. He looked a little pink, like he was blushing.

_Charle? This cat is the one who 'acts like Wendy's Mom'?_

The cat turned her nose on Lucy and looked at Natsu. "Master Makarov wishes to have a word with you."

"What?" he asked with a dumfounded expression.

"He wants to talk to you before the show starts," Charle bluntly said and then rolled her eyes. "Incompetent fool. Why must Wendy insist of calling you her brother?" she muttered to herself. "I must go now," she told them. "I left Wendy in the care of that male cat and I don't fully trust him." Without another word she gracefully flew away.

"So that's Charle," Lucy said in awe.

"Yep."

"She's a little, uh…"

"Rude? Yeah. But she's good to Wendy, so we have to put up with her."

Lucy looked away from Charle, her figure getting smaller and smaller as she flew away to the tent, to look at Natsu. "So, the show's about to start, right?" she asked, trying to mask her melancholy.

"Yeah, I'm pumped."

"And then you have to perform again tomorrow," Lucy continued, letting the sad frown form on her face. "And then you leave."

Natsu looked at her with his coal black eyes widened. It made her think about how cute he really was. _Oh, you baka!_ She cursed herself. The passenger car jolted as the Ferris wheel continued to move, taking them back down.

She gulped down her sadness, cursing herself for getting anxious over something so small and mediocre. This was Natsu, a guy she'd only known for a few hours. He was hardly even a friend, right?

_"The carnival closes in ten minutes. Please make your way to the exit or the tent to watch the circus show."_

* * *

><p>As you've maybe guessed, this story isn't completely AU. Sorry for the late update, I swear I'll make it up to you!<p>

Any questions or critic, feel free to say.


	4. Weird & Wonderful

_As a child of high-class, she was not sent to an average public school. Those schools were considered vulgar and unrefined to her father. She had expected that she would be sent to a private school, where the tuition was high priced. However, her mother had taught her at home, which she had rally enjoyed. Her mother was the greatest teacher she could ask for._

_When the beautiful blond haired woman had passed away, her daughter had expected that she would be sent to a boarding school. She expected her father would want to get rid of her, because he tried his best to stay away from her and locked himself in his office for hours on end._

_No, she wasn't. A tutor was sent to her. The tutor was to teach everything from __arithmomancy to English literature. The tutor her father – or, more likely, his assisstant – hired was a meek old lady called Ms Dowling. Her face resembled something like a lemon and she always looked bitter and dissatisfied. Although being shorter than her, she was most fierce-some and carried around a threatening cane._

_One lucky week, Ms Dowling was absent from tutoring as having caught a dreadful fever. Sent in her place was Ms Andrew, the bubble teacher from the south. She had violent red hair and an enthusiastic personality. Her lessons were exhilarating and fun._

_Her father had been enraged by Ms Andrew's teaching ideas and had fired her as soon as he had found out. Ms Dowling had been forced to come back, still recovering from her fever and had infected Lucy with her germs. _

_It seemed that she wasn't supposed to have fun, like she had had with Ms Andrew. Having fun lead to trouble._

* * *

><p><strong>IV - Weird &amp; Wonderful<strong>

"_The carnival closes in ten minutes. Please make your way to the exit or the tent to watch the circus show_," a loud booming voice said as Natsu and Lucy hopped off the Ferris wheel.

"I guess you need to go now," Lucy mumbled to Natsu. "Otherwise you'll get in trouble with Master Makarov."

Natsu opened his mouth to speak but closed it when they heard someone shout Lucy's name.

"_Lu-chan!" _Lucy turned her head and made out the sight of Levy running up to her.

"Levy!" Lucy shouted back with joy. Her sadness had immediately evaporated.

She had met Levy an hour or so ago at the booth that Levy managed – it sold magic books and spell books. Lucy, being a massive bookworm like Levy, had squealed at the sight of all the books. She and Levy shared a common interest in books and clicked instantly – they'd spent so long discussing books that Natsu had had to _drag_ Lucy away from the booth.

Levy finally bounded to a stop once she was close to them. Like all the girls Lucy had met at the carnival, Levy was beautiful. She was bubbly and bright like her sunshine yellow bandana that clashed with her wavy blue hair. "The show's starting soon!" she told the blond. "We should get to our seats."

"Wait, don't you perform?" Lucy asked.

"Nah, I've got a case of stage fright that's nearly as bad as Erza's," Levy said and then shivered.

"And trust me, Erza's stage fright is bad," Natsu added with a laugh. Suddenly, he tensed up and started looking around, paranoid. "She's not here, right?" he asked with panic.

Levi and Lucy laughed at Natsu's paranoia. "Good," he said once he realized Erza was nowhere to be found. "I guess I'll see you," Natsu said to her, giving her a big grin. His smile looked different, almost… fake. "Bye, Luigi!" he added before running away.

"My name's not-" Lucy started to shout in anger but stopped when she realized that it was no use. Natsu was too far away to hear her.

Levy laughed. "You're like a couple," she said which made Lucy shoot her a glare. "Jeez, you're scarier than Erza! C'mon, let's go!"

The blue-haired girl led Lucy to the huge red and white striped tent. "Wow, it sure is big," she awed as she looked up at the tent.

Levy laughed again as they both took their place in the queue lining up to go inside. "Hey, what about your booth?" Lucy asked Levy.

"Oh, Droy and Jet said that they'll pack up for me," Levy answered. "Aren't they great friends?"

Lucy was sure that Droy and Jet both did not want to be just Levy's _friend_s but she didn't speak her opinion. She really liked Levy and was really upset knowing that they wouldn't see each other again. Almost as upset knowing that she wouldn't see Natsu again either. _Almost_.

It was Elfman who was at the opening at the tent, acting as the bouncer. The customers were giving him jewels to enter and see the show. Lucy dug her hand into her skirt pocket to get out her jewels. She felt guilty that she hadn't had to use any of it because Natsu's friends had insisted that it was no trouble – well, apart from Laxus who hadn't let them play at his 'Static Electricity' booth until they had paid.

"You don't have to pay," Levy told her as they got to the front.

"But-"

"As a man, I agree," Elfman spoke in his deep voice. _What does being a man have anything to do with this?_ Lucy wondered and then Levy forcefully pushed her into the tent.

Inside it was just as big as a theatre. The two girls made their way to some seats to give them a good view of the centre when the circus acts would perform. The smell of buttery popcorn was in the air and Lucy cursed herself for not remembering to buy any for the show. However, she was still joyful, the excitement eminent on her face. _This is the first circus I've been to!_

When all the seats were finally filled, the show began. The lights dimmed and Lucy and the rest of the audience (bar Levy) gasped when a spotlight fell on a huge dark monster. Fear rumbled in Lucy's stomach and she recoiled back, afraid the monster was going to catch her. But her eyes stayed glued on the figure, as were everyone else's, and they all watched as the monster figure shrunk smaller and smaller until it was just a small elderly, mustached man wearing a bright orange and blue hat.

"Welcome all, to the Circus of Fairy Tail," the man said. "I am Master Makarov, the owner of this circus," he took off his hat and bowed to the audience and then placed his cap back on. "This circus has been running for hundreds of years, although the lineup has changed many a time. It is said that the first owner of this circus, Mavis Vermilion, was an actual fairy. But do fairies really have tails? Do they even exist…? Like them, this circus is an eternal mystery… A never ending adventure!"

"First, I present to you, Pantherlily," Makarov ended his introduction with a bow. The spotlight on him disappeared and landed on the small black cat.

Some of the audience cooed at the appearance of Pantherlily, who looked more than adorable. The cat, whoever, looked miffed that people were taking him for granted. His eyes searched the crowd until they landed on the two girls. Lucy felt she was imagining things, or had Levy and Pantherlily smirk at one another?

He started running to them on his four paws and then pounced. Unexpectedly, he transformed in mid-air to a large panther humanoid. He dropped to his feet on the floor and growled at Levy, causing said girl to giggle. Obviously this transformation was not a new sight for her.

Lucy couldn't get over it. _Pantherlily turned… can Happy and Charle do that too?_ She wondered as the lights brightened and a creature appeared on stage. It resembled something like a tiger, with paws and claws and even black stripes and ever tiger _ears_, but the rest of its body looked human. The tiger/human hybrid had familiar short white hair and blue eyes which made Lucy realize that the tiger was, in fact, _Lisanna._

The two fierce creatures circled one another as predatory animals would. Lucy was scared that they would attack one another and fight: _hello, anyone ever heard of animal cruelty?_ Just as she feared, the animals pounced…

Then, just as before, Pantherlily transformed back into his original form: a cute little cat. He started to fall to the floor, only to be caught by Lisanna who was also once again in her normal form of a teenage girl.

"Behold, Ladies and gentlemen," said Makarov, although he was nowhere to be seen, "Lisanna, the amazing transformer and Pantherlily!" Lisanna and Pantherlily disappeared from view too. "Our next act is none other than Lisanna's sister, _Mirajane!"_

A brightly colored blue and yellow tropical bird flew into view, swooping around the tent. It landed on someone's outstretched hand and transformed into an exotic blue and pink butterfly. Someone gasped. The butterfly fly away and flitted past until it reached Lucy. It landed on her lap and she was beyond shocked when she remembered that this little butterfly was actually the beautiful Mira. Again, it transformed into a cute and fluffy white cat. Lucy laughed and tickled Cat-Mira behind her ears.

The cat leapt off until it was back in the centre of the tent. With a twirl, Mira was in the cat's spot, looking as attractive as ever.

The show flew by, getting more and more interesting by the minute. Elfman, Mira's and Lisanna' only brother, appeared with a monster arm that was extremely strong. Juvia almost drenched the whole audience and Gray showed his wonderful ice-sculpting skills. _He uses ice? And Natsu uses fire… no wonder they don't get along!_ Lucy thought and clapped as Gray and Juvia left the stage. _Hey, why is Gray still shirtless…?_

Bixlow made his 'babies' fly around the tent but Bisca and Alzack shot them back down with their perfect aim. Lucy was aware that Bisca liked Alzack. From the longing look Alzack gave the cowgirl, Lucy assumed that he liked her in return, but neither was courageous enough to admit it.

Gajeel was back again, and eating metal like there was no tomorrow. Lucy considered that there was more to Gajeel's talent than just eating metal because he had been chewing some earlier that day like it was nothing. This was probably just something minor for him, a buffet where he got paid for eating.

A gasp spread through the crowed. The audience was cringing because he had swallowed down a sharp knife. Levy watched, fascinated.

Lucy gasped. Not at Gajeel's possibility to swallow something that sharp, but out realization. "You like him!" she whispered to Levy, who jumped.

"N- No I don't!" she whispered back in insistence.

"You do!"

"I don't!"

Someone behind them shushed them.

The last person to show was Natsu. He was the perfect final act, wowing everyone by breathing out fire, juggling fireballs and turning his whole arms into fire. Lucy watched in amazement – he never failed to impress her. He took an arrogant little bow at the end and spotted Lucy in the audience and grinned widely at her. She clapped louder.

The audience began to file out of the tent. Lucy and Levy walk to the exit but the latter got pulled away by Jet and Droy. "See you tomorrow, Lu-chan!" Levy shouted, waving as Jet and Droy took her away, both boys energetically talking at the same time to win Levy's attention.

Lucy waved back and turned to leave the tent. Outside the sky was dark, few stars to be seen in the sky. But there was a crescent-shaped moon in the sky that gave out slight. People were walking past her, rushing to leave and go home, and she followed the sea of people.

She wanted to stop, turn around, and go back to see Natsu and praise him for his act but decided against it. They were all probably celebrating another successful show and she would be intruding. But still, her feet nearly swiveled around and it took all her might to keep moving forward.

Once outside the gates, the locals all separated to return to their respective homes. Lucy found herself to be walking back to the Inn alone. No one was in front or behind her, yet she had the suspicious feeling that someone was watching her. She shook the demented feeling away and focused on the scarce stars in the sky.

Lucy had always been interested in constellations and astronomy. So had her mother, which was why Lucy loved it so much. It reminded her of the nights her mother had showed her all the different constellations htrough the expensive telescopes, how they had watched the eclipse together. Lucy smiled at the memories, looking up at the twinkling stars.

She paused for a second. _Were those footsteps?_ She wondered. She could have sworn she'd just heard the shuffling of feet. She glanced back and her eyes widened.

"It's you!" she shouted in anger. It was the guy from earlier – the thief. "Don't even think about stealing from me again!" she glowered at him. Unlike last time, she was now aware he was there and wouldn't be surprised if he tried to attack her. Her hand went to the Keys, ready if he were to try and attack.

The thief didn't look at all fazed by her tough demeanor. He started to approach her without hesitation. Lucy didn't waver, but wondered if he had a death wish. "Your little friend hurt me," he said to Lucy with a glare. "And I didn't even get any money out of it! But it looks like your friend is now nowhere to be seen…"

She heard someone chuckle behind her and she turned around so fast she nearly got whiplash. _Uh oh,_ she thought. Uh-oh was an understatement. There were two – _two_ – burly men behind her wearing a sleazy smirk on their faces. She turned back to the thief and there was another man behind him, cracking his fists. It seemed just like an action-packed horror movie, and she was the one about to be crushed to a pulb and set off a whole chain of events.

Her grips tightened over the spine of the Gold Key and she gulped in fear.

The three burly men ran at her.

It's hard for her to remember what happened next because she was too busy kicking and struggling to get away. She tried to scream too but one of the guys had their hand pressed on her mouth.

Luckily, she was able to aim a kick in someone's faces (too bad she hadn't worn her heels because then it would've hurt _so_ much more) and break free from their grasp. As he clutched his face in pain, Lucy was able to unhook her keys.

She didn't think, just automatically lifted up the key with the sign of Cancer. "Open the Gate of the Crab! Cancer!" she shouted.

All of a sudden the Crab/Human hybrid appeared. He would have looked like a normal human if it weren't for the orange skin tone and the crab arms he had, along with normal arms. "Lucy," he said, turning to her, "What kind of hairstyle would you like -ebi?"

Lucy resisted the urge to facepalm herself. She only summoned Cancer the Crab for haircuts because that was his specialty. However, if he wished to, he could make anyone fall unconscious by just cutting their hair. He would hurt them at all – although Lucy was somewhat upset that they didn't get their just deserts.

"What the hell?" one of the guys said, looking at the Celestial Spirit in confusion.

"Finish them off!" Lucy told him.

"Okay -ebi," he calmly replied, readying the scissors in his hands. He moved in a flash, cutting and snipping their hair off.

With all three guys unconscious, Lucy felt she could finally relax. _Safe at last._ She brought the Cancer key up to let him go back to the 'Stellar Spirit World' when a hand grabbed her hair and pulled her aside.

"Let go!" she screamed. How could she have forgotten about that thief? Cancer readied his scissors again to attack.

"Stop, you weirdo, or else blondie gets it," the thief said, pulling Lucy's hair to prove he wasn't bluffing. She screamed in pain.

No one moved. The tension was palpable and Lucy hoped that someone would come rushing out from one of the houses to attack the thief from behind. No such luck. _What the hell, does this town have a curfew or something?_ She thought, her head turning to look at the houses on the left which had all the lights switched off.

Wrong move. He pulled her hair again and she yelped. "Shut up!" he hissed, nearly tearing out her golden locks. This time, Lucy didn't scream. She bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. "You're a circus freak too, huh?" he said to Lucy. He snatched the Key from her hand, examining it. "You got that thing here by using a key?" he asked in bewilderment. "I wonder how much it's worth."

Lucy gasped. _No, he can't sell it! _It was given to her from her mother and Lucy had been given specific instructions to not give her keys to anyone unless the Celestial Spirits wanted to break their contracts with her.

Or if she died. She hoped that that wouldn't be the case either.

"Hey!" Lucy almost started crying with relief – it was Natsu. Natsu, who had helped her twice today – and now for the third time. He was approaching them, eyes burning with hate, sharp teeth bared and clenching his fiery fists. "If you hurt my friend, I'll burn you to a crisp," he threatened. He looked more fearsome than all of the men who had attacked her put together.

The thief released her and Lucy heard his rapid footsteps as he ran away. Natsu looked like he was about to follow the thief – where there would no doubt be bloodshed – but then he met her eyes.

Lucy forced the tears of pain back. If she showed her pain, Natsu would no doubt follow through with his threat. She straightened up and noticed that Natsu seemed to be staring at her, so her hand darted to her head. _I hope I don't have a bald patch now!_ There was no hair out of place. "What?" she asked him.

"Didn't you promise not to get into anymore trouble today?" Natsu said in annoyance, the bloodthirsty look in his eyes long gone.

"It's after midnight, so technically it doesn't count," Lucy protested._ This guy sure is bipolar! One minute he's angry and then-_

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Natsu's eyes jumping from her to Cancer the Crab.

_I guess I have some explaining to do…_

* * *

><p>This chapter felt... argh. Awkward. What do you think? In other news, I changed the summary. Is it better? Worse? You didn't even notice? - I don't blame you for that.<p>

Now this is out of the way, I can focus on my Maths test which is... tomorrow. XP Wish me luck


	5. Liar Liar

_Lying was something she was told never to do. And she stuck by the rule while her mother was alive. _

_But then her mother had died, and she had found herself lying more than ever. "Did you study last night?" She would nod, even though she had spent the whole time last night reading about the tragic life of Oliver Twist. "Did you eat all your vegetables?" She would nod yes, even though she had discretely dumped them into her napkin._

_They never found out, and she didn't expect them to. So, there was no harm in lying, right?_

_She was only lying to herself._

* * *

><p><strong>V - Liar Liar<strong>

"He's your friend?"

"Yes."

"Who has… crab arms?"

Lucy placed her hands on her hips in a dominating and angry demeanour. "You can eat fire! What right do you have to judge him?" Inside, she was trembling like the ground before a massive earthquake. The lying might end up blowing up in her face, and soon this will be bigger than an impending earthquake. Luckily, they would go their separate ways soon so he would never find out the truth.

Even if she had told him, he wouldn't believe her anyway. He'd probably end up running to the hills, screaming about the crazy girl who thought she could summon the constellations with Keys. _Yeah, because _that _is believable,_ she told herself, prohibiting herself from blurting out the truth. She was a terrible liar. Fortunately, this wasn't a whole lie. Cancer the Crab really was her friend. She had known him for years and could rely on him.

"I thought you said you were travelling alone," Natsu stated and Lucy stopped herself from face-palming herself. _He doesn't remember my name, but he remembers that!_ She restrained a groan.

"He was just visiting," she half-lied. "He's gone back home now," she added. She had been swift enough to open the portal to the Celestial Spirit world without Natsu noticing until Cancer had disappeared with the portal closing promptly behind him.

"Okay…" Natsu said, scratching his head in suspiciousness and confusion. "If you say so…"

"Hey," she said, looking back down to Natsu, "why are you here, anyway? Shouldn't you be at the circus?" It was a lame attempt of changing the subject, but she was somewhat curious too.

"Oh," he said, "I, uh, I just wanted to sat She noted how dark it was now, probably passed 1am. She wondered what time Hilda locked up the Inn. She was pretty old, and probably went to bed early, so maybe it was already locked up by now…

"I need to rush back!" she yelped in alarm, breaking into a run. If she ended up locked out, she would have to sleep out in the cold.

"Why?" Natsu asked, easily catching up with her.

"Hilda's probably locked up the Inn by now," she explained. Natsu nodded, understanding, and grabbed her arm. He started to run faster, hauling her with him like he had done _all_ day. She felt like a rag doll being dragged around all day.

However, she was glad Natsu was such a fast runner because, in a matter of minutes, she was back at the Inn. Thankfully, the gates were still open. "Thanks. You can go now," she told Natsu.

"I'll walk you inside, I can't really trust you alone," he told her with amusement. Lucy swiftly gave him a punch on his arm before he could duck away. She pushed through the doors of the entrance, Natsu still with her. Hilda sat at the front, still wide awake but extremely grumpy. She glared at Lucy. "What time do you call this?" she asked with distaste. "It's dark, you could have been attacked."

"She was atta-" Lucy shot Natsu a menacing glare and he immediately shut up. Hilda looked up and down Natsu with dislike, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I think you better go now," Lucy mumbled to him, thinking of his welfare. Hilda didn't seem fond of boys.

"Yeah, okay," Natsu agreed. He let go of her arm and flashed her a toothy grin. "See you tomorrow!"

Hilda and Lucy watched him leave, both with different expressions. She turned back to Hilda, who was now scowling at Lucy. "No boys in your rooms, and no hotplates!" she shouted at Lucy.

"Yes ma'am," she solemnly nodded and made her way up the stairs to her room. She was careful not to make a sound as she tiptoed up the stairs. She didn't want to wake up any of the other occupants of the Inn.

When she reached her room, she quietly closed the door behind her. With fumbling fingers, she unhooked the Keys from her belt.

10 Keys altogether. 7 gold, 3 silver. 2 of them given to her from her mother. All of them were precious to her and held the magic that only fairy tales talked about. For years now, they had been her only friends and no one knew about them.

Now she had met Natsu, it was beginning to change.

… … …

The next day, Lucy skipped back to the carnival with joy. She had had so much fun yesterday. She wondered if there was anyone else in Fairy Tail whom she hadn't yet met. She hadn't officially met Master Makarov yet but feared meeting him in person. He was like the father (or grandfather) figure and if he didn't approve of her…

_They're like one big happy family, _she thought as she entered through the gates. _Even though they fight, they love each other a lot, even Gray and Natsu._

Speak of the devil. "_Luuuuuucyyyyyy_," a familiar voice shouted and Lucy swiftly turned. A blur of pink was charging at her. _Déjà vu,_ Lucy thought. Her eyes widened, remembering distinctly that she had landed on the floor yesterday. _Oh no!_ Scared that the same thing would occur, she took a step to the left at the last moment.

Natsu landed face first onto the floor. A giggle escaped Lucy's lips and then she didn't hold in any more of her laughter. _He deserved it for laughing at me yesterday!_ She thought, giggling even more wildly.

"Not funny," Natsu mumbled with a frown, pushing himself up. He scowled at her. "Seriously, stop."

"Okay, I'll stop," she said, stepping closer to apologize. "I'm sorry," she told him. _He laughs at me all the time, even when I'm annoyed, but I can't laugh at him? _

"C'mon, let's go," he said to her, brushing off his embarrassing fall. "Test your Strength."

"Do we have to?" she groaned.

"Aw, are you scared because you're too weak?" he teased her.

Lucy took the bait and followed him with a huff. _Argh, why do I always end up giving in?_ she gritted her teeth as Natsu smirked with triumph. Like yesterday, he started dragging her along.

As expected, they were back at the Dunking booth in no time. While Natsu and Gray started to throw insults at one another, most of them ridiculous and stupid, Lucy watched from the sidelines with Juvia, who was the other person managing the booth (Lisanna had gone to help out her sister).

Unlike Lucy, who kept rolling her eyes every time the boys acted immature so much that her eyeballs began to ache, Juvia kept clapping every time Gray said an insult and was cheering him on. All she was missing were pompoms.

"Why are you cheering?" Lucy asked in outrage. "You're just encouraging them!"

Juvia glared at Lucy. "It is expected of Juvia to cheer for Gray-sama because Juvia is in love Gray-sama!" she hissed at Lucy. "Why aren't _you~_ cheering?" she condescendingly asked, eyebrow raised.

Lucy instantly tensed up. "I- I'm not in love with Natsu!" she insisted, her voice suddenly high pitched with nervousness and her hands were clammy. She felt herself go red and wondered when the weather had gotten so warm.

"Juvia didn't say that Lucy-chan was," Juvia replied, eyes studying Lucy in a way that made her feel queasy. "But if Lucy-chan is not in love with Natsu then you and I are love rivals again."

"What?" Lucy said in outrage. "Just because I'm not in love with Natsu, doesn't mean that-"

"Juvia does not believe your lies," she spoke in a cold tone.

"But- but I…" she spluttered, struggling to get her words out. Juvia was just so hard to talk to sometimes. "I just…"

Juvia unexpectedly smiled. Lucy felt shivers down her spine; that sly smile reminded her of Natsu's mischievous grin before he pulled a prank or followed through with a scheme. "Let's go see Bisca!" she told Lucy.

She didn't like where this was going. "But you're supposed to be giving out the tennis balls," she reminded her, trying to dissuade Juvia. Whatever the water girl had up her sleeve was sure to bring trouble upon Lucy.

"No problem for Juvia!" she chirped, approaching Natsu. "Natsu, take these!" she ordered, practically shoving all the tennis balls to him and he reluctantly took them. Juvia swiftly turned and bounced back to Lucy and grabbed her arm.

"Natsu!" Lucy called after Natsu as she began to be dragged away by Juvia. _Why the hell does this keep happening to me?_ She wondered in annoyance. Natsu was too busy smirking with glee at the tennis balls. Lucy watched helplessly as he began to throw each and every one at Gray – not at the target, but at Gray himself - who failed to dodge the upcoming attacks. There was a _splash, _indicating that Gray had fallen in. The last thing Lucy heard was Natsu's whoop of victory.

"Here we are!" Juvia announced, pulling Lucy to the giant ferocious tiger.

"Gah!" she shrieked with shock, forgetting that all of Bisca's animals were tame and wouldn't harm any humans.

"This is Little Tyler," Juvia introduced the 'harmless' tiger to a scared stiff Lucy.

_Little?_ Lucy thought in horror. _How is this thing harmless?_ Juvia pushed her closer to the tiger but Lucy dug her heels deeper into the ground to thwart her. "Does Lucy-chan know what's so special about Little Tyler?" Juvia asked her in a playful tone.

"N- no," her voice trembled.

"He loves ~_fish_!" she drew out that last word with a sneer and then suddenly Lucy found herself hurtling into the large pile of stinky fish.

The pungent smell was atrocious. It assaulted her nose and her eyes watered from the stink. She looked up from where she lay to see Juvia spitefully smiling, a triumphant gleam in her sparkling dark blue eyes.

… … …

All in all, this day has so far not been the best for Lucy. At least Levy had been able to rescue her from the humiliation of having clothes stinking of fish all day by letting her borrow some of her own clothes.

"Thanks again for the clothes, Levy-chan," she thanked her with a grateful smile. The clothes fit her perfectly because their build was similar.

"It's no problem, Lu-chan," Levy told her. "I'm sorry you fell in."

_More like was pushed,_ Lucy thought in bitterness but bit her lip. She remembered last night when her lip had started bleeding because she had bitten down extremely hard to cease screaming out in pain. "I really like your room," she said to distract herself from the awful memories of last night.

Levy's room was, as expected, packed with many books of all shapes and sizes and genres. Levi's entire room was full with bookshelves with books overflowing from them. "Did you read all of these books?" she asked in awe, drinking in the amazing sight she hadn't fully noticed until now.

"Yep!" Levi nodded. "But I had to clear away over half of my books because there wasn't enough space," she added, pulling a face. "But I gave some of them to our friends in Fairy Tail, so at least they'll be read."

Lucy didn't the miss the fact Levi said _'our friends'_ even though the blond had known them for no more than half a day.

She wandered around the shelves, glancing over the titles of the books. Wow, there really_ were_ books of every genre. It didn't seem like Levi had a favourite type of book, but a vast collection. "What kind of books does Natsu like?" she couldn't help but ask. She immediately froze after asking. _What the hell? Why am I asking a question like that?_

She opened her mouth to take back the ridiculous question when Levi said, "Guess."

"But-"

"Guess," Levi said again, this time with a laugh.

In all honesty, Natsu didn't seem like the type of person to read books. Or even willingly open one that didn't have pictures. But he did seem to love food… "Let me think, cooking books where he can stare at the food?" Lucy asked with her eyebrow raised.

Levi laughed. "Yep! He's the reason why all the cooking books have drool marks."

Lucy wrinkled her nose in disgust but couldn't help but also laugh. It seemed like Natsu. She wondered around the shelves some more and found the children's book of _Alice's Adventure in Wonderland_. She had always wanted a copy of the book as a child.

"Like the book?" Levi asked, bringing Lucy's attention back to the present. "It's Wendy-chan's favourite too."

"Really?" Lucy said, putting the book away. It was wonderful that Wendy had such loving people to look after her. "Speaking of which, where is she?" she asked.

"She must be with Charle somewhere," Levi shrugged.

Lucy was no longer paying attention; she was staring at the bookshelf on the far right that had caught her attention. Unlike all the other bookshelves, this one had all the books in a neat order with none out of place or looking scruffy. They didn't seem to have been touched for a while. The books were hardbacks and quite thick, causing Lucy to wonder what they were about.

"Hey, Levi-chan," Lucy called her friend. "What are those books about?"

Instantly, Levi froze. A shocked and nervous expression was etched on her face. "Er, what those books?" she said with a nervous laugh. "Oh, they're nothing special. Just, uh, dictionaries and encyclopaedias and boring stuff like that. You don't want to read that, you'd like books like _Sense and Sensibility_ or teenage romance novels like…"

She was rambling now. And, although she had only known Levi for a short amount of time, Lucy knew that when Levi rambled in meant she was lying. It had been proven when Levi had started rambling last night when she had suggested that Gajeel liked her. _But why would she lie about this, anyway?_ She asked herself as the blue-haired girl went on about how all teenage books nowadays were about hunky vampires. _What's so special about those books?_

In curiosity, the blond started edging towards that specific bookshelf. Levi was oblivious, now going on about how these books were giving the wrong ideas to teenagers, namely Juvia who had taken up the hobby of stalking Gray. Lucy added a 'yeah' and 'mm-hm' every now and then so Levi wouldn't think she was no longer paying attention.

Swiftly, Lucy grabbed the hardback black book with golden writing because it was the most intriguing. She hugged it to her chest and then placed the paper cover of _Pride and Prejudice_ over the book.

"Hey, Levi-chan? Can I borrow this book?" she asked her friend, holding up the disguised book. She gulped down her guiltiness and desperately tried to hide her grimace.

"Of course, Lu-chan!" Levi told her with a smile. It was extremely difficult for Lucy not to give up and admit the whole truth to her.

"Thanks. I'll return it tomorrow, okay?" she said. "Oh wait, you leave tomorrow, don't you?"

"After sunset tomorrow," Levi told her. Sadness flickered over her face for a second, as if she too was realizing that soon she wouldn't see Lucy again. However, she quickly recovered and smiled widely. "We would leave earlier, but everyone always stays up late and, because there's no work the next day, they stay in bed until noon."

"I'll stop by before you leave," Lucy told her, finding it hard to keep her smile in place. "I better get going now," she added, turning to leave.

"You're going already?" Levy asked in shock. "Aren't you going to stay for the show?"

"I'm actually really tired," Lucy told her and then faked a yawn. "Plus I need to shower that fish stink off," she wrinkled her nose in disgust. _I so hate Juvia right now. _"I better get going now."

"Oh, but-"

"I'll see ya," Lucy hurriedly said, rushing out of the room. If she'd stayed just a second longer, she would have blurted everything out.

She started fleeing from the back of the carnival where all the caravans and etc were to try and make an escape without bumping into anyone else. She hugged the mysterious book to her chest in protection, pondering over what secrets it held as she ran at full speed, trying to get away as fast as possible.

But then she saw a flash of white hair. She ducked away where she would be out of sight and waited it out, only to hear a conversation which left her more question than she had started with.

* * *

><p>If you didn't think the last chapter was awkward, this one definitely was. There were way too many breaks in between because the switching from one scene to the next was difficult too write. Thank you for the reviews, they really make my day!<p>

Gah, writers block.


	6. Fiction or Facts

I'm majorly sorry for updating so late. But, hurrah, I got three essays completed in the space of 12 days.

.

* * *

><p><em>She clutched the hem of her dress skirt so tight it was sure to have creased. The maids would certainly scold her for ruining such a beautiful and expensive dress but she was never fazed by their consistent reprimanding. She held the hem up high so she wouldn't step on the overlong ruffled skirt of her dress as she hurried forward in a run.<em>

_She reached to a halt when she reached the corner of the corridor. She pressed herself against the wall and peeked out from the corner. There was no one in that part of the corridor. They still hadn't left the room yet. Silently, she waited, holding her breathe in anticipation. _

"_Eavesdropping is wrong," she could almost hear her mother saying, her voice no longer frail and weak like it was now. But her mother wasn't like that now, she wasn't her lively and bubbly self, and she never would be again. It seemed like she wouldn't be here for much longer._

_But how much time was left? She was dying to, yet dreading it at the same time. Her face had nearly turned blue with the lack of oxygen, so she exhaled and inhaled once more. Was it possible that, inside that room, her mother was taking her last breathes?_

_Finally, after what seemed like decades, her father and their personal doctor left her mother's room. She pressed herself into the wall, willing herself to turn invisible so they would not notice her presence._

_She did not hear the hushed discussions of time limits and such as she had expected. No, all she heard were quiet sobbing of her father, along with the consoling of the doctor. "Why her?" she heard the words barely escape her father's mouth. It was gruff and forced, and it cracked at the end like the glass frame of their family picture had shattered into a million pieces._

_ It was then that she realized it was too late, and she had spent these moments scheming, rather than being with her mother for her final breathes._

_She remembered her mother saying in her stern tone, "You never hear anything good when you're eavesdropping."_

* * *

><p><strong>VI - Fiction or Facts<strong>

Unfortunately, it was evident that today wasn't her lucky day. Before she could even get away from the back of the carnival, she caught sight of long white hair and a curvaceous body.

_Mirajane_.

As much as she liked the girl, Lucy ducked behind the barrels of beer (_jeez, how much alcohol does Cana go through?_) to hide. If Mirajane were to catch her, she'd make Lucy stay for the show whether she wanted to or not. Mira was just stubborn that way.

Lucy crouched down low so her golden hair would not be seen. Her knees touched the dewy grass and the blades of emerald tickled the front of her calves but she remained still and silent. She waited with baited breathe for Mirajane to go back to the booths.

Instead, she heard Mirajane speak in her soft kind voice. "What was it you wanted to talk about?" she asked someone.

"I thought that would be obvious," a stoic male voice replied. _Who does that voice belong to?_ Lucy faintly remembered the voice from yesterday, but she was certain she hadn't officially met him. She risked a little peek over the top of the beer barrels and saw green hair – a darker green than Bisca's, for sure.

"I wouldn't say do, Freed," Mirajane replied. _That's his name!_ Lucy realized. _Freed – he's friends with Laxus. _She didn't know him nor had he aroused her attention, but that proved to be a good thing. It appeared that he was much more sensible and less rambunctious than the other boys (they could hardly be called men). He was fairly handsome but had a solemn look on his face. She wondered if he ever smiled.

It was a private conversation between the two, obviously not meant to be heard by anyone else. Why else would they have chosen to discuss something here in discretion whilst everyone else was at the carnival? Lucy decided to respect their wishes and crawl away to give them privacy while their attention was adverted. But then, what she heard next made her freeze.

"It's about that Lucy girl."

Now, Lucy wasn't normally an eavesdropper, or a gossiper, but when what they were discussing was about her then she just had to listen in. The curiosity overpowered her morals. She stayed in place, hidden by the barrels of beer, praying that the pair would not notices and Cana would not come stumbling in, wanting another barrel of beer to drink.

"Lucy?" Mirajane repeated out of confusion. "She's lovely, isn't she?"

"Bixlow informed me that she shot a dart-gun at him," Freed told her. It wasn't a retort or something he was saying to contradict Mira; he seemed to be merely stating a fact. A relevant fact? Lucy wasn't sure.

Mirajane gave out a harmonic laugh. "I heard."

"I had no doubt you would – everyone knows about it now," he replied with a chuckle. Lucy wanted peek out again, see this rare moment where Freed was smiling, but dismissed it.

"Are you calling me a gossip?" Mirajane asked.

"Not calling, just implying," he replied.

_They talk like a couple,_ Lucy thought. _He seems so low maintenance and not at all pervy compared to all the other guys. He's a good match for Mira._ Hopefully he was also strong, otherwise he would be crushed to a pulp by Mira's not-so-little brother, Elfman.

"So, what was it about Lucy?" Mira probed him for information. _Yeah, she really is a gossip!_ Lucy rolled her eyes but smiled too.

"We must stay away from her," the two words immediately made Lucy's smile slip from her face. _What? Why?_

"Why would you say that?" Mirajane asked, her tone suddenly harsh and almost _angry._ Lucy wished she could see Mirajane's face right now – she hadn't seen the bubbly woman angry – but was afraid she would be spotted.

"The aura around her – can you not see it? She's a Mage."

The word set off flashes of horrible memories for Lucy. She remembered that horrible night and could almost feel the rain pouring down.

"_Oh, Lucy-sama, aren't you going to say hello to your fellow Stellar Spirit Mage?"_

"Lucy? A Mage?" Mirajane said. She wasn't bewildered or confounded. It was almost as if she knew this all along, or had a theory about it. "But why is she here?"

"Sent by the Council, I presume," Freed answered. "It was only a matter of time before they caught us."

Now Mirajane was shocked. "B- but she'd never- Lucy is so sweet and Natsu's friend-"

"Doranbolt was Wendy's friend," Freed interrupted. "Or at least, she thought he was."

"Natsu isn't easily influenced like Wendy," Mirajane protested. "He's a good judge of character-"

"Natsu?" Freed repeated. His cool and calm self was gone and now he seemed to be scrutinising Mira. "The same boy who destroyed buildings like toys and acts before thinking?"

"He really likes Lucy!" Mirajane insisted and Lucy felt herself go red. _Like as in just friends!_ She told herself but that didn't stop her heart from somersaulting. She wasn't at all fazed when Freed had mentioned that Natsu destroyed buildings. It could have been an exaggeration or it could have been true. With Natsu, there was no why in knowing for sure.

"It seems that you're only denying it because you're afraid that he'll get hurt."

"Of course I am!" Mirajane said and it seemed she was trying to hold back a sob. "We've been hurt so many times, having to carry around this burden…" she gulped and then continued more calmly and quietly that Lucy had to strain her ears to hear. "Why can't we just have one moment of peace?" she asked herself in a small whisper. "Without any running away or being ripped away from your family? Like the old times?"

Then there was only silence. Freed did not reply, so, Lucy peeked from behind the barrels. Freed was holding Mira in an embrace while she quietly sobbed into his shoulder. There discussion about whether Lucy was a part of this 'Council' or not had been postponed.

Lucy, silent as possible, kept a firm grip on the book and crawled away from the scene. She kept on all fours for a few minutes longer until she was sure no one was around. She stood up, brushed her knees and then stretched out her sleeping legs that were now aching.

She was faintly familiar with the lay of the land where the carnival had set up, due to being hauled around the carnival for god knew only how long by Natsu. She was able to get to the exit quickly, without being stopped or spotted. She walked at a rapid pace, thinking that if she broke into a run it would only draw attention to her.

"_Luuuuuucyyyyyy_," a familiar voice shouted. _Not again,_ Lucy thought. She contemplated on whether she should just continue forward, pretending to be oblivious, or turn around and force herself not to be persuaded by Natsu's attempts to get her to stay.

She didn't get to choose an option because Natsu had already caught up to her. "Hey," he said with his usual smile. Happy appeared behind him, flapping his wings with joy. "Where are you going?"

The word '_home_' was on the tip of her tongue before she remembered that she didn't have a real home. "Back to the Inn," she truthfully answered. _Yeah, that's the only truth I'm going to tell…_

"Why?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Aren't you going to stay to watch me perform?" He didn't say '_watch the circus perform_'. He was more concerned about himself.

"Sorry, but I'm feeling kind of tired," she told him the same excuse she had given Levi. This time, the yawn she gave was a real one. _I actually am pretty tired. Maybe I should sleep first before I read the book…_ Her eyelids began to droop a little, heavy with sleepiness.

Natsu and Happy frowned in sadness. They were also realizing that this may be the last time that they'd see her, like Levy. "But don't worry," she told him with fake cheeriness. "I'll be back tomorrow to return Levy's book. She said you leave at sunset?"

He nodded. "Good."

"Why were you running, anyway?" she asked him to lighten the mood. He just gave a shrug in response. Lucy smirked. "Were you worried that I would leave without saying goodbye?" she teasingly asked. How could she _not_ take advantage of that?

A sad and nostalgic expression crossed his face but it disappeared so fast that Lucy thought she imagined it. Natsu pulled a face at her and said, "Pfft, I was chasing you to make you get out faster." He wrinkled his nose at her. "You stink worse than Happy's sardines."

"Aye!" Happy agreed, pinching his nose with his hand (paw?).

And with those parting words, Natsu turned on his heel, Happy at his tail, and left the blond volcano at the ready to erupt and spew scorching lava and unladylike words at him. Her nails dug into the book and resisted the urge to run up to Natsu and beat him until he was the same color as Happy. _No, I shouldn't_, she dissuaded herself, _I don't want to ruin Levi's book. And I really want to read what's inside._

As she walked back to the Inn, she thought back on Freed's accusing words. _Mage? Council? What was that all about?_

The word 'Mage' wasn't unfamiliar to her. She knew it meant something similar to 'wizard' or 'magic-wielder'. Her mother had told her countless stories about Mages too, like she actually knew the Mages herself.

Lucy's Keys looped around her belt were magic, so why wouldn't she be a magic-wielder? A Mage? _But how do Freed and Mira know that?_ She wondered. _How do they know about my Keys? About Mages? About-_

The thoughts bounced around her brain like an out-of-control trampoline. It caused her stomach to turn, feeling the same thing Natsu had felt when he had gone on the Ferris wheel. She stopped her jumbling thoughts that were filling her brain and bouncing against the mental walls of her brain. There was no need for questions. They were all in this book, the book she was clutching to her chest, and she was determined to find out all about it soon.

When she was back in her room at the Inn, showered and changed, she slipped off the fake cover of the book. Her hand traced the gold writing in perfect script.

_The History of The Kingdom of Fiore._

What was it about this odd book that drew her to it? It was calling out to her. She paused for a moment, and then hesitantly opened the book to page 1.

… … …

Every night Lucy thought about her mother before going to bed. She remembered Layla's beautiful face, soft colored silky blond hair, and warm hazel eyes. She remised her mother's gentle voice telling her soothing bedtime stories.

There was a specific story that she loved to here about. It was set in the 'Kingdom of Fiore' and Lucy imagined the place to be a wonderful and enchanting place with singing bluebirds and charismatic people and princes. (Sue her, she was only 6 and her imagination was not as wild as one would think.) In Fiore there were Mages – wizards of sorts – with magical abilities like the ability to control water or ice. They worked in magic Guilds which were organizations where the Mages could take jobs.

Her mother always specified the story on a certain girl named 'Lila' whom had blond hair and brown eyes and could summon these people called 'Stellar Spirits' whom were named after the constellations. For each person you needed an individual Key. For the Zodiac Stellar Spirits, the Keys were gold.

Lila would go on many missions where she often got into danger. When this did happen, she would summon one of her Spirits whom she would team up with to fight the enemies. Lilia's favorite Spirit was Aquarius whom was the glamorous Water Bearer with the beautiful form of a mermaid. When she had been a child, Lucy had wished to meet Aquarius one day, positive that she and the mermaid would learn to be great friends. Above all, Lucy had wanted to be a Mage.

In her humid room in the Inn, the window wide open to allow a gentle breeze to enter now and then and the sound of children playing outside was loudly audible, Lucy remembered these moments of her childhood and how she had wished for that story to be true.

And apparently, her wish had been fulfilled. The book that lay in her hands at the moment told her that there really was a Kingdom of Fiore with Mages and Guilds. It had a rich history and had been alive for many centuries.

Lucy closed the book with a sigh and then fell back onto the comfy bed. Her blond hair fanned out onto the soft cream pillow and Lucy knew that she could have fallen asleep instantly, had she not been antagonized and flabbergasted over what she had read.

Her stomach angrily grumbled. She had been too distracted by the book to have even bothered to eat. _Maybe I should go back to the café to eat…?_

Although she was starving, Lucy found herself unable to move from the comfortable bed. She was still processing the news that the whole fairytale her mother had told her was actually true. How could she find it in herself to eat?

_Why didn't they tell me?_ Lucy thought. Her Stellar Spirits had never even spoken one word about Fiore where there were many Mages – Mages who deserved to have all these Stellar Spirits and would obviously have put them to good use, rather than her who only summoned Cancer the Crab for haircuts.

She could have hit herself for being so ignorant. Of course Fiore had been real – if Stellar Spirits were real then why wouldn't Fiore be?

The concept of Mages and Guilds wasn't unfamiliar either. Her mind drifted off as she remembered that dark and intense night only a couple of years or so ago.

_The rain that thundered down from the heavy dark cloud made her deeply wish she had worn more layers. Or at least held off Operation Runaway until the weather was less harsh._

_But there was no going back now. She had to continue going and not look back. It had been an hour, so there was the hopeful possibility that no one was looking for her yet. She had been intelligent enough to sneak out late at night when her father and the maids were all fast asleep. However, her plan had hit snag – by now she was supposed to be far out of town but it had taken her nearly 20 minutes of stumbling in the dark to get out of the gigantic garden her father owned._

_The thunder banged and there was a blinding flash of lightning that scared Lucy to the core. To be slashed by the razor-sharp lightning was terrifying. Then, adding to her fear and anxiety, she heard a mischievous giggle that caused her to swivel around in shock._

"_My, my, you're jumpy," said a light-hearted voice. The holder of the voice stepped forward, out of the shadows and made Lucy nearly faint with shock and terror. It was _her. _Lucy Heartfilia was standing in front of another Lucy Heartfilia. If this wasn't confusing, she didn't know what was. _

_The twin quirked an eyebrow at Lucy. "Stellar Spirit information received," it spoke with smugness. "Impressive. I think we found who we're looking for, Angel-sama."_

_Another figure stepped out of the darkness. Lucy wished to run, hide away, anything to get away rather than just stand like an idiot, petrified to the spot like she was now._

_She pulled her eyes away from her smirking mirror image to the other woman who had appeared. 'Angel' was what her mirror image had called her. The woman certainly had the image of an angel. Her pixie face was angelic, her dress fluffy and white, made of soft feathers, and her light-colored hair was twisted into a pseudo halo at the top. _

_The only thing out of place in her cosplay was the smirk she wore on her face. It was full of satanic wistfulness. Lucy didn't normally believe in demons but Angel was an exception._

"_W- What do you w- want?" Lucy finally found the courage to speak. Unfortunately for her, it came out in a chain of scared stutters which only caused her mirror image to giggle and Angel to sneer at her._

"_Oh, Lucy-sama, aren't you going to say hello to your fellow Stellar Spirit Mage?"_

_Her hazel eyes widened in trepidation. She didn't know what to be more shocked about. The fact that Angel knew her name or the fact that she knew about Stellar Spirits. The latter, she decided, but had absolutely no idea why Angel had addressed herself as a Mage. Weren't they a type of wizard?_

"_How do you know about –"_

"_Stellar Spirits?" Angel finished with a laugh. She turned to Lucy's mirror image. "That's enough now," she told her in a harsh tone. _

_Lucy watched in amazement as her mirror image began fading away in a cloud of thick smoke. Then the smoke began to hastily clear. To her astonishment, there were two small alien beings standing in pseudo-Lucy's place._

"_Meet my two little cuties, twins Gemi and Mini," Angel said in a polite introduction. "Stellar Spirits." The two tiny dancing beings gave a pleasant wave at Lucy._

_Her heart nearly stopped thumping. Subconsciously, her hand went to the keys looped around her belt of her soaked jeans. She scraped up enough voice out of her throat to speak again. "W- who are you?"_

"_Tsk, tsk, so many questions," Angel tutted. "Didn't anyone tell you not to be rude and ask so many questions to a stranger? Didn't they tell you not to run away from home?" Lucy felt her hands start to tremble in fear. How did this Angel know so much about her?_

_Lucy regained the feeling of her toes and started readying herself for the sprint. "But, to be nice, I'll answer your questions. My name is Angel-sama," she told Lucy with a spine-tingling smile. "And I'm a part of the Dark Guild, the Oración-seis."_

_The words were all unfamiliar and foreign to Lucy, but she said nothing and kept frozen as a statue. She let Angel continue, waiting for the appropriate opportunity to escape from the clutches of her claws._

"_I heard some rumors that the Key to the Maiden was in this quaint town and I thought I'd go retrieve it for myself." Her eyes narrowed and she gave Lucy a hard stare. "But, what do you know? Duke Everlue is in prison and his Key has already been taken."_

_Lucy felt her mouth go dry. Only one name was in her mind now, along with the color of startling pink and the image of a maid outfit. Virgo…_

"_You don't deserve those Keys," she said with distaste. "You don't even have a Guild." Angel's eyes zoomed in on Lucy's Keys and her cold and hollow black eyes filled with greed. "You asked me what I want, Lucy-sama. And so, I'll tell you."_

_Angel's eyes darted away from Lucy's Keys to look Lucy straight into her eyes. "I've wasted enough time. I'll be taking those Keys for myself…"_

Lucy woke up with a jolt. She sat up in bed and her gaze hurriedly bounced around her cool and dark bedroom until she was positive she was alone. Her vice-tight chest loosened and she let out a relieved sigh of content.

She frowned at her foolishness. Why was she getting anxious about a nightmare of an event that had taken place over a year ago? Anyway, she had gotten away scot-free – and with Angel's Keys - so there was nothing to worry about.

Lucy blinked the sleepy haze out of her eyes and then swung her legs over the side of the bed. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11 o'clock in the morning. She had slept for over 12 hours.

She stood up and gave out a loud yawn, stretching. Her eyes landed on the discarded book on the bed. She leaned over and picked it up. She hadn't had the chance to finish it and felt she had no reason to either. She knew all she needed to know. Fiore was real, as were Mages and Guilds.

Biting her lip, she flicked through a few pages until she found what she was searching for.

_Dark Guild__ – noun. A Guild that no longer (or never was) recognized by the Magic Council and thought as a criminal organization and treated as a threat._

Lucy continued to look through some more pages that listed the Dark Guilds but found no mentioning of the _Oración-seis_. However, the book seemed to be over a century old, meaning that that Dark Guild hadn't been formed yet.

With a frustrated sigh, she shut the book and placed it on her bedside table to get ready.

* * *

><p>Originally, this was supposed to be two seperate chapters but then I realized that they were too short so I added them together. I'm not sure if the combination worked, however.<p>

Not much Natsu in it, so I apologize. But, did the flashback (I loved writing that part - Angel's one of my favorite antagonists) make uo for it?


	7. Mysterious Magic

I really don't blame you for hating me about the late update. Writing block's a you-know-what but we have called a momentary truce so I could finally write this.

* * *

><p><em>With the precious gold Key in her right hand, she hurried along the empty corridor, hoping that there were no hiding souls nearby. The floor was cool against her bare feet. Her shoes had been <em>_discarded because of their constant clacking against the floor. Silence._

_There was just the beating of her heart, __gaining speed the further she got to the garden door. The excitement tingled through her spine and she grinned, an actual grin, for the first time in years since her mother had…_

_Her smile slipped, but was back in place when she pushed through the garden door. While the land stretched on for acres, her eyes zeroed in__ on one place only. It was apparent against the emerald green grass that was now dark against the night sky. The small pond was the only blue in acres of green._

_She cautiously approached the murky blue pond, her grip tightening around the Key. After a second of hesitation and fear, she kneeled down __beside the pond. She loosened her grip around the Key and leaned forward to dip it into the dark water where she could see the reflection of the moon._

_The words easily flowed from her mouth, in lodged in her brain from the many times her mother had said the words in her amazing stories about Mages._

"_Open the Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"_

_She watched, amazed, as the water began to almost bubble and lighten. An orb of light had formed at the tip of the Key, growing larger and larger and causing ripples in the pond. A form quickly submerged - a beautiful mermaid with long blue hair and a silvery-blue tail._

_In that second, she knew what this was._

_Magic._

* * *

><p><strong>VII - Mysterious Magic<strong>

While enjoying her lovely breakfast of eggs and bacon, someone slid into the seat opposite her. _Urgh, another guy trying to date me, _she mentally groaned, not taking her eyes off her more appealing eggs. _I mean, I know my sex appeal is really-_

"Can I have some?" a familiar and highly annoying voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up from her plate, scowling. Natsu was staring at her plate longingly, and the same look was painted on the blue cat that sat next to him.

"No," she bluntly told him. _By 'some', he means 'all'. With one bite he'll finish everything!_

"_Please?"_ he begged, causing Lucy to roll her eyes. Her gaze landed on the book she had placed on the seat beside and, immediately, nervousness erupted from within her stomach. How could she have forgotten about it? "Lucy?" Natsu said, a concerned look on his face.

"What?" she said, snapping out of her daze. "Oh, fine, you can have it," she told him, pushing her plate to him. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore.

He gave her one of those '_you're so weird_' looks she had been receiving from him many times, but this one was mixed with some concern about her welfare. Nonetheless, Happy started tucking into the meal and Natsu followed suit.

_Wow, déjà vu,_ Lucy thought, the corners of her mouth nearly turning up in a smile. Then, the anxiousness appeared and her hands started feeling clammy. She pushed the terrible emotions away. This was Natsu, her friend, and cute little Happy. What was there to be nervous about?

_Now,_ she decided. She'd speak to him now about it, while they were away from the others. Although he was childish and moronic at times, Lucy wanted to speak to him rather than Levy. Natsu was the person she had known the longest and trusted the most. He was truthful too, and she was certain he would answer her dying question.

"Hey guys," she said with a smile, making them look up from the plate. Just being the focus of their eyes made her uneasy. The nervousness was back and she found it difficult to keep her cool smile in place. "I need to ask you something."

Happy raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Natsu looked blank, waiting. Lucy gulped, and then reached over to get the book. She placed it on the table, the title clear as ever to the two boys.

She didn't let Natsu's surprised expression faze her and continued to ask her dying question with determination. "Are you a Mage?"

Silence.

The tension was palpable. She watched Happy's eyes widen with shock and almost horror, darting from her to Natsu to the book. Natsu, however, remained still, staring intently at the book. Not like he was wishing it to disappear, blaming it for making Lucy ask such a question. He was…

_Thinking_.

_Oh my gosh, I made Natsu think!_ She thought, her eyes nearly going as wide as Happy's. She would have been extremely gleeful for making such a thing happen if this weren't such a serious moment.

"Yes."

"Huh?" she furrowed her eyebrows at Natsu. He was no longer gazing at the book, but looking straight at her. It was without any humor, so un-Natsu like, that it was creepy.

"Yes," he repeated. _Okay, so I had heard that right…_

"Yes to what?"

"Yes, I'm a Mage," Natsu said in his usual nonchalant demeanor, rolling his eyes.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock and confusion. "You mean you're just admitting it?" she asked in perplex.

Natsu gave her another '_you're so weird'_ look, this one not tainted with concern. "You know about Guilds and Mages and stuff," he said, nodded to the book. "What was the point in hiding it?"

"B- but- but… "

Happy wrinkled his small blue nose at her. "Ew, Lucy's obsessed with butts!" He and Natsu chuckled energetically and Lucy had a flashback to the scene at the Diner from two days ago. _Wow, it's only been two days? So much has happened…_

"Stop it!" she said, furious and irritated out of her mind. _They're such bratty kids!_ She thought through gritted teeth. "Natsu!" she shouted, lifting the book up in her hands in an act to hit him.

She brought the book crashing down and it went _thump_ when it pounded against Natsu head. Lucy smirked and felt a jolt of triumph when Natsu stopped laughing to rub his sore head. There seemed to be a bump forming which made Lucy's joy of triumph increase.

"Why are you here?" she asked him in frustration.

"I'm hungry!" Natsu replied, still clutching his painful head.

"No, you _baka_!" she said in fury. She then exhaled out all her anger. Getting worked up wouldn't help the situation. "I mean, why aren't you in the Kingdom of Fiore? Why aren't you in a _Guild_?"

Natsu's eyes darkened and she thought that she had almost gone too far. There must have been some good reason why he wasn't in Fiore. "We are… we _used_ to be a Guild." There was so much pain in his voice, something she'd never heard before. This was obviously a hard subject to talk about for Natsu and she was angry at herself for asking him in such an accusing fashion. "The Fairy Tail Guild, one of the best in Fiore. And one of the most destructive," he bitterly added. "The Council didn't like us and then they… disbanded us."

Lucy cursed at herself for not reading the whole book. The Guild names had been listed, but she hadn't been bothered to read it. "I- I'm sorry," she guiltily apologized. "But I saw the book and I- I just-"

"It's okay, I guess," Natsu told her with a shrug.

"You're my friend. You deserved to know."

Lucy almost smiled. _Friend._ Before meeting Natsu, she had been all alone. She hadn't had a friend, nor had she had this much fun. He had been the one to introduce her to Levy, to the circus and to their extraordinary magic.

"I lied," she blurted out. Natsu's eyes furrowed and he looked at her questioningly, Happy with the same bewildered expression. "The reason I took the book was because I- because my Mom used to tell me stories about Fiore." She paused for a moment, remembering the soothing voice of her mother.

"And," she continued, her eyes dropping to the table, "she told me stories about Mages and magic and Stellar Spirit magic. And then, she gave me these Keys. They opened the gate to the Stellar Spirit World, and I could summon Stellar Spirits with them. That's who Cancer was – a Stellar Spirit." She bit her lip in hesitation and then looked up at him. Natsu was wearing a familiar dumbfounded expression on his face, while Happy looked shocked. Obviously, the cat had figured it out before Natsu had.

"I'm a Stellar Spirit Mage, Natsu," she told him and his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to ask something but Lucy immediately continued. "Before you ask, I'm not in a Guild. I've never been to Fiore."

"But your Mom…"

"I _think_ she used to live there," Lucy told him, wishing she knew more about her mother. Silence followed, uncomfortable and filled with tension.

"We were the best Guild, but we always destroyed stuff," Natsu told her, as if sensing her discomfort. She was grateful that he had changed the subject away from her mother.

"Aye, Natsu always destroyed buildings," Happy added in agreement.

"_Natsu? __The same boy who destroyed buildings like toys and acts before thinking?" _That was what Freed had said yesterday. He hadn't been exaggerating at all.

"The Magic Council hates us that they wanted to get rid of us," Natsu continued. "And finally, they did."

"They disbanded us," Happy added in gloominess.

Lucy felt outrage towards the Council. Natsu looked so unhappy and sorrowful that it made her blood boil with anger. "Just like that? You didn't get a warning or-"

"Oh, we got warnings," Natsu nodded. "_Lots_ of warnings. But we never thought that they'd actually…" he trailed on, unable to continue.

Lucy bit her lip, regretting even mentioning the word 'Guild'. Obviously this was a sore spot for Natsu. He was usually so tough and obnoxious, given off this wave of confidence that impressed and annoyed her at the same time. To see him upset caused a sharp pang in her heart which she quickly dismissed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Natsu said with a sad smile.

"Why didn't everyone else just join another Guild?" the question blurted out of her mouth before Lucy could stop it. She cringed.

Natsu's eyes blazed with anger for a moment which made Lucy recoil. She had never seen him so angry before. But then the fire in his eyes extinguished as quickly as they had been set ablaze and he looked away. "We couldn't all join the same Guild," he explained, "and we couldn't be away from each other either. We're all nakama."

Her eyes began to water. They all loved one another. They were all family. She couldn't help the jealousy that pumped through her veins. She'd never had something like that. Ever.

"Plus, some of us got banned from Guilds," Natsu interrupted the moment. She blinked away her tears to look at him, confused. "I was nearly put in jail, Gajeel too. And Laxus, Evergreen, Freed and Bixlow."

Lucy raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why all of them?" she asked. _Okay, Gajeel and Bixlow seem like the type who gets in trouble a lot. The same goes for Laxus. But Evergreen just seemed like a vain and superficial flirt and Freed hardly makes a sound!_

"Laxus is Master Makarov's great-grandson," Natsu explained and Lucy _did_ fall off her chair this time. _Those_ two were related? _They don't even look alike!_ Natsu didn't even wait for her to get back up before continuing. "The Council thought he might start a new Guild for us or something." He shrugged. "Bixlow, Ever and Freed were in his team, so the banned them too."

"You work as teams?" she asked, but then shook her head. "Never mind that, what about you and Gajeel?"

"We're both dragon-slayers, so the Council-"

"D-dragon slayers?" she asked, eyes bulging and mouth hanging open so wide she could have caught a hundred flies. She was on the verge of falling off her chair again but gripped the sides.

"It's the type of magic I use," he explained. "We each have a different element of power. I have fire, Gajeel has iron." He suddenly smiled brightly. "It's really cool, right? I can eat fire, turn my body into it and-"

"And Gajeel can turn his body into iron?" she asked, wondering what that would be like. _Imagine him making his arm into a giant sword._ She shivered._ Now if that isn't a reason to stay away from him, I don't know what is._

Natsu frowned at her, as if angry that she was more impressed and horrified by Gajeel's ability rather than Natsu's. Lucy rolled her eyes. _Boys and their competitions…_ It seemed all boys were like that in Fairy Tail. They all competed against one another.

Well, it didn't seem that Freed did such a thing. He seemed more respectable. Lucy remembered Freed's conversation with Mirajane from last night.

_"Sent by the Council, I presume. It was only a matter of time before they caught us."_

There was something about that hushed discussion between Freed and Mirajane that didn't quite add up with what Natsu had just told her. Freed had thought that she was a spy of some sorts – working for the Magic Council. But why would he think such a thing if they no longer wanted any business with Fairy Tail? After all, Freed and the others were no longer in Guilds like the Magic Realm had ordered. And it wasn't like the green-haired Mage was paranoid …

"_It was only a matter of time before they caught us."_

"Is the Council looking for you?" she asked. _Does Freed have a right to be suspicious…?_

Natsu disappointed her by just giving a small and annoying shrug. "So, you can't go back to Fiore, huh?"

This time, Natsu let the mask of confidence slip and a sad frown formed on his face. He had been trying to act casual about the fact that he had had to flee from his home to enter and live in this unknown and unfamiliar territory. Lucy wished she could empathize with him but the thing was… that place she had left, the place she had felt so lonely and isolated it… That wasn't her home. Not anymore, since her mother, the energy that had kept that mansion alive, had passed.

But at least he had his closest friends with him. Lisanna, Mirajane, even Gray! They had followed him and stayed together as a group – as a _family!_ And Lucy would never have that.

She was depressing herself with these thoughts now. If she didn't stop herself soon, the nostalgia would kick in and she would start reminiscing the wonderful times with her mother.

She had all her answers anyway. No longer would she be curious about the mysteries her Keys contained. She was a Mage. A Celestial Spirit Mage, like her mother. It would have been the perfect writing material, but she didn't want this magical story to get out. It was too important and special for anyone else to know. She would keep it as a treasured memory, one that she would most certainly start crying about when she looked back on it.

Her eyes were already beginning to water. She pulled out a few jewels to pay for her meal and then handed the book to Natsu. "Would you give this to Levy-chan, please?" she asked him. If she were to go back to see Levy, that would only be worse. It was better for her to just leave without that painful goodbye. Levy was exactly the type of friend she had wanted as a child. All she had wanted was a friend, someone who loved books and reading and was nice and kind to her.

Natsu wasn't exactly someone she had pictured being friends with as a child. She had never even imagined that someone like him even existed! But he was energetic and humorous and kind, when he wished to be. He was now tracing the lettering of the title, lost in memories.

She stood up from her seat. "You're going now?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, I need to pack up my stuff at the Inn," she told him. There was no point in staying any longer. The town would be so dull without the carnival.

Natsu kept his black as night eyes of the book, not even bothering to look up at her to say goodbye. She bit her lip, and then gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Bye, Natsu," she said in a soft voice. There was a lump in her throat and her eyes were beginning to burn with tears.

She began to move away, blinking away tears, when someone grabbed her hand. Their hand was warm and extremely familiar. She could feel the heat run through his hand to hers. She inhaled a breath and reluctantly turned. Natsu was on his feet now and was holding her hand in his. Although he had been dragging her along, hand in hand, for the past two days, this time it was different. She had noticed before, but his hands were quite soft despite the fact he used them to juggle fire.

She opened her mouth to ask him what was going on – or maybe let out a sob because the lump of emotion stuck in her throat had seemed to have enlarged – when he spoke the most unexpected words.

"Don't leave," he pleaded. "Come with us. Join Fairy Tail," he told her out of the blue.

Her heart started beating rapidly, almost as if it was going to burst out of her chest. It made Lucy's eyes widen to the size of plates. Was he serious? "W- what do you mean?" she asked him in confusion and anxiety. Was he really asking her to…?

"Join Fairy Tail!" he repeated with a huge excited grin on his adorable (shut up!) face. She had never seen him so ecstatic. "It'd be great, won't it Happy?" he said, turning to his feline friend. Happy enthusiastically nodded also in agreement.

Happy's smile was so big it was almost as if he had seen a fish as big as the table. "Aye!" he agreed.

"You could be a part of our Guild- I mean, a part of the carnival!" he ignored his trip up. It was upsetting that Natsu still forgot and referred to Fairy Tail as a 'Guild'. He still wished that the Guild hadn't been disbanded – Lucy assumed that everyone did – but he seemed to be coping.

But they were still a family. They all knew one another well for possibly years, knew what they liked and disliked, had the more than occasional squabbles and etc. They all fit together as pieces of a puzzle. And for her to join, an extra piece…

She couldn't do that to them. She couldn't intrude into their life. After all, she had only known them for a few days. She was an outsider.

"I'm sorry," she told him. And with those two small words, Natsu giant grin instantly faded into a look of sadness. Lucy only wished she could make him smile again.

…

_Another day, another town. Another town, another tale._

Lucy jotted down the last few lines of the chapter of her novella. She had been working on it for a while and kept adding to it every time she saw something interesting or experienced something while traveling. Hopefully, this book would sell better than the others. It had been so upsetting when her other book hadn't even sold one copy.

She wondered if Levy-chan would read it once it was finished. Levy had a vast collection of books and enjoyed reading more than anything. Lucy highly hoped her friend would read her book.

Her mind quickly turned from thinking about her book-worm friend Levy to thinking about the pink-haired boy who had probably never read a book in his _life_. The surprising offer he had given her earlier in the day was burned into her brain.

A melodramatic sigh escaped her lips. She was over thinking this. It was done, she'd said no, and he was leaving. There was no way of going back and she didn't want to either. Who was she, a total stranger that some people (Freed) didn't even _trust_, to suddenly come into their lives?

She closed the book and re-capped the pen. Like the Fairy Tail circus, she too was leaving the town. Without Fairy Tail, it would be boring and dreary like every other town. She got up and placed the notebook and pen in her bag, and then went to the closet to fold up her clothes and put them in the bag too. She was planning to leave straight away – catch the first train out of there.

In contradiction to her plans, her stomach angrily grumbled. It practically echoed through the empty room. The room felt colder as she glanced around. Her room was silent and empty apart from her, just like it had always been. What more was there to expect? She was all alone, traveling by herself.

At first she hadn't minded the solitude. It was like that when she had been living with her father: she was all alone with only her stories to entertain her. However, ever since she had seen the closeness between Natsu and his friends – his _nakama_ – her loneliness had come to light.

_Is this how it's always going to be?_ She wondered, her sight beginning to cloud with tears. _Just me, all alone. No family. No home._

…

She found another Mage at the Diner again. It was Gajeel, and he seemed to be getting some food to go. Lucy assumed it was for the journey to the next town.

He caught sight of her and scowled. Lucy frowned at his standoffish behavior and approached him. "What?" she asked, wondering why he looked so annoyed with her. Luckily, he was just annoyed; he didn't seem to be angry. Otherwise Lucy would have rushed out of there so fast there would have been a cloud of dust in her wake.

"None of your business," he gruffly told her, and paid for his food. He was about to step around her when she blocked his path. He growled in irritation. "Get out of my way."

"Make me," she snapped.

"I'm not going to hit you! I've seen enough crying girls for today," he shoved past her and out of the Diner but Lucy raced after him. Her feet made contact with the rough gravel and rain was spitting down, but she didn't even flinch at the wetness.

"Wait– who was crying today?" she asked in alarm. _Oh no, was it Wendy? Mirajane?_

"Levy," he told her and her eyes widened with surprise. Levy, her closest friend other than Natsu! "Salamander came back and gave her some book that _you_ gave to him to give to her and… I don't know what was going on but then she started crying and even Fire Boy was upset and his cat was _bawling_ and…"

Lucy tried to gulp down her guilt, but it was no use for her. Her eyes watered with tears. "It's my fault," she choked out.

Gajeel looked at her oddly. "That's what I said, but Natsu just went crazy and we got into the fight of all fights. So, what happened? Levy isn't normally that OCD about her books."

"It's not that, it's just… Natsu told me."

His dark red eyes widened. "Told you what?" he gruffly asked but his eyes gave away the fact that he _knew_ what she was talking about.

"He t- told me that… you're Mages," she told him and he cursed. "I already knew," she told him, so he wouldn't get angry at Natsu. She didn't want to create any rows between them. "My mother was a Mage."

His eyes nearly fell out of his sockets and Lucy found the look quite comical – the vicious punk-rocker shocked out of his wits. "So you're a -"

"Yeah," she said, gulping. "I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Okay…" he said, grasping the concept. "That still doesn't explain why book-girl was crying."

"Because… because Natsu asked me to join and I said no."

_Now_ Gajeel was pissed. His eyes reddened – if that were possible – and he scowled. "Why? Why'd you say no? Because you think that we're a bunch of weirdos? Because you didn't think we were when you were at the circus. Or maybe -"

"You don't think that I didn't _want_ to join you?" Lucy cried out, nearly sobbing because of the accusations Gajeel had thrown at her. He crinkled his brows in confusion. "Because I do. I want to hang out with Natsu all the time, read with Levi, gossip with Mira and even get to know _you_!" she continued in argument.

"So why did you say no?" he asked, clutching the paper-bag in one hand. "Why can't you join the Fairy Tail circus? You're a Mage, you want to join, why don't you?" he asked her.

"Because," she started to tell him, and then stopped. Was she really going to tell him? She dropped her sight to the floor. "Because you're all nakama. And I'm not."

Gajeel snorted. "That it?"

Lucy looked up, enraged by his rude demeanor. "Obviously some iron robot like you wouldn't understand!"

"Understand what? That you think you'll be the odd one out?" Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Listen, Bunny girl, you think they liked me at first? _Please_. I was in another Guild - Phantom Lord Guild. We were enemies. I, uh…" he shuffled on his feet. He looked strangely guilty. It was a foreign look on Gajeel. "I did some things I shouldn't have. But then my Guild was disbanded and, after a while, Fairy Tail accepted me." He patted her on the head so hard that Lucy was sure there was a big hand-shaped dent on her brain. "And they'll accept you too, Bunny girl."

He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She looked into his creepy red eyes and said, "Bunny girl?"

"Is that the only thing you heard?" he said in outrage. "Whatever. Can't tell you what to do or shove my opinion down your throat. Levy says that's 'wrong'," he added, using quotation marks and having a look on his face that clearly said he disagreed. He shrugged. "See ya, Bunny girl."

He turned on his heel and left Lucy standing outside of the Diner, now wondering if she had made the right decision.

She didn't go into the Diner to eat – she was no longer hungry. She ran back to the Inn, grabbed her things and checked out. She had to go, quickly, before she changed her mind again.

The sun was just beginning to set, the sky tinged with pink now. She ran as fast as her boots would let her. She wished she hadn't worn a skirt that day. She had the worst luck.

She stopped in front of the gates, panting, and her cheeks were pink with the rush of the blood that was pumping through her.

"Lucy?" she looked up. They were all there, readying to leave, and staring at her in confusion. She caught sight of the person who had spoken: Natsu. He was pushing past Elfman to see her properly. "What are you doing here?" There was a hint of hope on his face.

Lucy searched the faces of the others. There was no sign of discomfort on their faces or annoyance. Gajeel was smirking triumphantly and Levy biting her lip in anticipation, fingers crossed.

"Is it too late to join?" Lucy hesitantly asked.

She found herself engulfed by Levi in a bone-crushing hug. Lucy happily embraced her back. Over Levi's shoulder, Lucy saw Happy flying above them, an excited look on his cute blue face while Charle was rolling her eyes. Mira looked ready to cry in happiness and Master Makarov was wiping a tear away from his eyes.

After Levy reluctantly released Lucy, the latter found herself being welcomed and hugged by everyone from Mira to Bixlow. Finally, Natsu gave her a scorching hot hug but released her in the matter of seconds.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy," he told her with a grin, flashing his white teeth at her.

She didn't feel so lonely anymore.

* * *

><p>So this is 13 of the story down. Yeah, you have to put up with me for another 2 thirds.

So, ladies and gents, be prepared for a lot of backstories (and backstabbing if Juvia has her way)


	8. Nakama

_As a child, she was always alone. She had no real friends, because she was never allowed out of the mansion. All she had for friends were her dolls and her Stellar Spirits. _

_Dolls weren't living things, and she never wanted to bother her Stellar Spirits. They didn't fill the void in her heart, the one that had been full with love from her beloved mother._

_Often, on nostalgic days when she was missing her mother at most, she would stare out of her Victorian window, where she had a great view of their garden that stretched on for acres, and she would dream about having real friends, like the ones her mother had talked about in her exciting stories. Friends who were Mages too, with extraordinary powers and abilities. Together, they would go on adventures and they would have fun._

_Most of all, they would be her nakama._

* * *

><p><strong>VIII - Nakama<strong>

"Watch the amazing Fairy Tail circus perform - tonight at 10pm!" she shouted at the top of the lungs as Natsu arrogantly showed off his fire juggling skills. He juggled the fireballs so fast that Lucy had to step _away _from him, frightened that one fireball will go awry and burn her hair blacker than his charcoal eyes. Happy flew about, literally shoving flyers at passer-bys and locals. He zipped around the sky like bee, or maybe he had just had too much coffee again…

Lucy shuddered at the memory. Seeing Happy hyper had been horrifying and she didn't wish to see it again. "Meet the super strong Elfman his transforming sister Mirajane!" she continued to tell the locals. Immediately, something blue whizzed by her at the speed of light, knocking her to the ground.

Lucy groaned and propped herself up using her elbows. Happy was still bouncing about, flyers floating around at his wake.

So, why were the two boys acting so hard? _Is it because they want to impress me?_ She was new to Fairy Tail, only having joined roughly two weeks ago, and had given the task to go around town with them to promote the show. She had no extraordinary talent other than the fact that she could summon Celestial Spirits, so she only did the odd job or two. She was the ordinary girl in the extraordinary group. _Maybe they want to cheer me up?_

"Luce, are we done yet?" Natsu whined after he swallowed the fireballs back. His stomach groaned – his stomach was not upset that it had to digest fire. No, Natsu _loved_ to chow down on fire. However, just a small amount wouldn't replenish him. "I'm _hungry_."

"Aye! And Mira said she was going to make cookies!" Happy agreed. "Plus, I gave out all the flyers!" he added, holding up his empty paws. There were neon bright flyers littered around the floor, over one hundred faces of a laughing Natsu were mocking her.

So, no, they weren't trying to impress Lucy or cheer her up. They wanted to get the job done fast enough to go back home and eat.

_Home._ It still felt peculiar to say. It was practically a foreign word to Lucy, who hadn't thought of any place as a home for years. And it wasn't like Fairy Tail really was a home, considering the fact that they move from one town to another every week to perform and earn jewels. Lucy didn't even have her own caravan yet – she was rooming with the adorable Wendy and bookworm Levy.

_Wait, didn't Erza tell me that she was getting me a caravan today?_ Lucy remembered and grinned. It wasn't that she disliked staying with Levy and Wendy, the two girls were generous and kind, but it was much too cramped.

Instantly, Lucy's mind began to fill with ideas of wallpapers and bed sheets. She hadn't had her own room for years either, so this was more than exciting for her. Hastily, she stood up and dusted off her skirt. "Let's go," she told them.

And then she was being hauled back to the circus, her arm nearly being pulled out of its socket. Well, it was either that than having being eaten off by a starving Natsu.

As always, in Fairy Tail, everyone was laughing and chattering and fighting (in the boys' case). It was nice how nothing changed with them. They were a boisterous bunch, not caring at all that they had had to move away from their home and were on the run.

Their Guild had been disbanded, so they had had to move outside of Fiore to the areas in Earth-Land which were less common with the use of magic. In fact, no locals knew that there was such a thing called magic in the first place. At least, not real magic that wasn't just the trick of the eye and magicians' scamming you. According to Levy, the bookworm of Fairy Tail, all Mages originated from Fiore, but some moved away to the areas where magic was unknown. Most were fugitives, like Fairy Tail.

_What would happen if someone from the Magic Council found them…?_ she wondered as she sipped the herbal green tea Mirajane had served her. Lucy had imagined the Council to be like the witches from Macbeth, scheming and cackling with their pointy hats and green faces, until Reedus had drawn a picture of how the current Magic Council members _actually_ looked like. Now, she kept thinking of Guran Doma having a green face to match his pointy hat. He was the leader of the Council, and was cruel enough to disband Fairy Tail, causing Lucy to think that he really _was_ one of the evil witches of Macbeth.

A sad sigh escaped her lips when she noticed that the seat next to her was empty. She didn't need eyes on the back of her head to know that Natsu had no doubt gotten into _another_ fight.

It happened a lot. They would sit down together for a few minutes but then, faster than Jet's light speed racing, Natsu was trying to burn Gray or fighting with Elfman to prove who was manlier.

The same went for Levy – not that Levy got into fights. It was just that, whenever Lucy and Levy tried to eat lunch together to discuss books, Jet and Droy would interrupt them by offering Levy scones or biscuits or juice or even a new published book that was only in stores in Japan – which was miles away! They had giant crushes on Levy, which she seemed oblivious to. The boys were always there, asking the bookworm if she needed anything and practically fighting for her attention.

Lucy couldn't help but feel like an outsider when she was with them.

Everyone had their own little clique and, although she desperately tried, it was so hard for her to fit in with them. Even Juvia – who was hanging around with Gajeel whenever she wasn't drooling over Gray. Apparently, they'd been in the same Guild before they had joined Fairy Tail. They were a weird match – iron and water - and they each had weird personalities but they somehow got along. Or, at least, they tolerated one another.

Lucy's hazel eyes drifted away from Gajeel who was chomping down on a block of metal while Juvia energetically chattered away, to Mirajane, who was standing at the other end of the bar, gossiping to her sister Lisanna. It was nice, seeing everyone get along and being with so many nice people.

But, surrounded by all these people, Lucy still felt alone.

She was so ordinary, so average, compared to the rest of them. She didn't regret joining them, but sometimes she would feel that pang in her heart, knowing that she would never be a part of them…

… A part of their _nakama._

… … …

She let out a sigh of relief as she fell back onto her bed. Her _own_ bed, that was soft and warm and covered in cream sheets. Finally, she had her own room, her own _bed_, where she could have the pleasure of being alone. Like always.

But, unlike in the morning, she enjoyed being alone at night. Here, she could review the day, hear the silence of the night, and almost hear her mother singing her a lullaby to sleep.

She smiled as she nestled into her soft pillow that didn't smell of roses, like Wendy's, or wasn't hard and lumpy because it contained a book in its pillowcase, like Levy's. She had tried sleeping in Wendy's bed first, who had kindly offered to share her bed. However, Wendy's bed was small, built specially for her; and, although the adorable girl didn't look it, Wendy was a kicker when she was asleep. Wendy with fidget and toss and turn and haphazardly kick her legs around so much that Lucy had fallen off the bed.

Then, she had tried sleeping in Levy's bed, which was bigger. Levy slept soundly after reading her book and Lucy had snuggled into her pillow – after she had removed the book from inside the pillowcase – thinking that she would get a peaceful sleep. That was, of course, until a hardback book fell off its shelf and landed with a _smack_ on Lucy's poor nose.

Lucy let out another content sigh and her eyelids fluttered shut. Wendy's bed had been too soft, and Levy's too hard. This bed was just right. She felt like Goldilocks, and her blond hair was spread across the pillow. But, unlike Goldilocks, she didn't have to worry about anyone disturbing her in her warm bed…

It was almost _too_ warm.

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, inspecting her room. There wasn't much in her room yet, just a wardrobe and desk and chair. Levy had said she was going to get her a bookshelf soon. There was no heater, but it was summer so she didn't need one. But this warmth was _not_ due to the summer heat.

Her eyes landed on the large lump on the bed that was radiating body heat. In a sleepy state, she hadn't noticed until now. It covered the whole right side of the bed, covered by the duvet. It was the figure of a person, but Lucy was unsure who it was. It was certainly not some strange murderer who had entered her caravan for the sole purpose of killing her, but had only fallen asleep. The circus had rented out the area and the gates were locked shut to prohibit anyone from entering once the show was over. And if those didn't work, they had Freed's strong binding spells too.

So, this could only mean that the person who had snuck into her new caravan and into her bed was someone from Fairy Tail. The blithe laughter of a certain blue-haired Water Mage entered her mind. Lucy remembered all of Juvia schemes that had taken place – 12 in just _two weeks_ – and her malicious laughter as Lucy stalked away in embarrassment. It didn't matter how much Lucy denied it, Juvia would never believe her when she insisted that she_ didn't love Gray!_

What was Juvia's plan now? Had she snuck spiders into Lucy's room so the blonde would wake up the next morning with her room filled with cobwebs? Or worse, were there bats somewhere in her room, ready to sweep at her hair?

Lucy leaned over the figure, contemplating what to do. She could just leave Juvia or whoever it was to just sleep there, but then she knew that _she_ wouldn't get any sleep herself because she'd be fretting over Juvia's plan of attack.

Tentatively, Lucy reached over and slowly tugged the blanket down. She hoped that the jack-in-the-box wouldn't suddenly spring. Explaining why she needed to wash her sheets after only having them for one day was a conversation she did _not_ want to have…

She froze when she caught sight of the salmon pink hair that was usually followed by a grinning face. Hastily, in a second of anger, she threw the covers off Natsu. _What the hell? Why is he in my bed?_

_Argh!_ She had half a mind to throttle him until he woke up, and then beat him up some more. And even get Gray to join in. All she wanted to do was sleep, but obviously, she couldn't even do _that_ without having a space-heater sleeping right next to her.

But Natsu was sleeping soundly, eyes closed tight and lips parted as he murmured unrecognizable words. Envy shot through her until she saw Happy sleeping too, snuggled into Natsu's bare chest with a small smile on his face. Lucy couldn't help the smile that made its way to her lips. They looked _adorable_. It was hard to believe that these were the two who wreaked havoc and chaos.

Of course, she remembered who she was dealing with when Natsu subconsciously punched, sending her flying to the wall. She clutched her nose that was going redder than Rudolph's nose and cringed. Natsu was even violent in his sleep.

"Take that, Ice-Boy!" Natsu whooped in triumph. He stirred a little more and then sat up, blinking several times to adjust to his surroundings. His coal black eyes landed on Lucy and he frowned. "Lucy? What happened to your nose?"

She immediately shot up, ignoring the dizziness in her mind. It was a wonder how she kept her balance. "It was you, you _baka!_" she shouted at him before giving him a swift karate kick which sent Natsu – and Happy, still fast asleep – soaring off the bed.

"Ow, what was that for?" Natsu complained as he stood up.

Lucy resisted the urge to strangle him. _Or, maybe I should just give into the urge?_

"_That_ was for punching me!" Lucy shouted. "Why are you in my room?"

"We were tired," Natsu shrugged. He glanced down at Happy, who had fallen on the floor and was just waking up. "Right, Happy?"

"Aye," the cat agreed sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"And you couldn't sleep in your own bed?" she asked, infuriated. Natsu shrugged again. She suppressed a groan because she knew that this was going nowhere. "How long have you been here, anyway?" she asked as she sat down on her bed.

"Since the show ended," Natsu replied.

Lucy frowned in thought. She hadn't seen them when everyone was packing up the booths and then relaxing in the bar after the show. But, then again, she had spent the entire time with her nose – which hadn't been swollen at the time – in _The History of the Kingdom of Fiore_, now with Levy's actual permission, because she'd wanted to learn more about them.

And, also because it brought her mind off of the empty seat next to her.

Natsu's stomach grumbled. "I'm hungry," Natsu said. "I want fries!" he enthusiastically added.

"And milkshakes!" Happy said, now fully awake at the thought of food.

"And ice-cream!"

"And burgers!"

"And -"

"Then go get your food!" Lucy interrupted them. She was tired of their talk of food and it was making her a little hungry too,

"But Mirajane will be going to sleep soon!" Natsu pouted. "But we could go into town to one of the diners?"

"Aye! They're open 24 hours!" Happy chirped in agreement.

"What'd you say, Luigi?"

"My name's _LUCY!"_ she practically exclaimed. "And I just want to get some _sleep!_" Truthfully, the idea of sleeping was getting less appealing as she started to imagine the smell of French fries dipped in ketchup. "And you can't get out – they doors are locked and only Master has the key."

"We could go through the back way."

"There's a back way?" she curiously asked. Natsu smirked deviously and nodded his head. She looked away from him. "Still, it's a no. It's too dark out."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of anger cross Natsu's face. No doubt, he was remembering the night when she had walked home alone after seeing them perform, only to be ambushed.

It quickly disappeared and Natsu snorted. "I can protect you!" he said and then even flexed.

Lucy rolled her eyes and her stomach grumbled a little. _French-fries…_ "Fine, I'll go," she told them and they cheered in delight. "But, it's dangerous out, so I'm summoning one of the celestial spirits." She reached over to her bedside table where she had deposited her precious keys and hand curled around the spine of her favorite Silver Key.

She stretched her arm out in nonspecific direction. Natsu's and Happy's eyes were widened with eagerness. They had never seen her summon a celestial spirit before. She had argued against the idea of summoning the Celestial spirits just so they could perform in the Fairy Tail Circus. It was unfair to them, having to do such things against their will. They were people too.

She felt electricity run through her spine as she focused on the tip of the Key – the portal to the other world. ""Open a Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!"

An orb of light formed at the end of the Key, slowly increasing in size. It acted as a portal to the Celestial Spirit World. And then, in a flash of radiant light, the portal closed, leaving a small person in its wake.

"Pun!"

Natsu and Happy stared down at the creature in perplex. Their jaws were to the ground and their eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets. "Don't stare!" she reprimanded them. "You're scaring him!" Lucy smiled warmly at the small creature that had just appeared out of thin air. She crouched down and patted Nikora - whom she had renamed as 'Plue' - on the head.

"That was supposed to appear?" Natsu asked in confusion.

Lucy scowled at him. "Plue is not a _that_. Plue is a _he_ – a white doggy!" She affectionately stroked his head.

"He's going to protect us?" Happy warily asked.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at them. She knew that Plue wasn't powerful, strong, or good for any kind of battle; but, it had been so long since she had summoned her companion. Plus, Plue loved to eat. "We're going out get some fries and burgers. Do you want to come?" she asked him. Plue enthusiastically nodded.

"Okay, let's go," Natsu said. He still wasn't over his shock of seeing Plue and kept staring at him, waiting for Plue to become a giant monster.

Lucy stood back up. "I need to change first," she told them.

They didn't move at all.

"Get out!" she shouted at them, pushing them out the door. "What part of 'I need to change' didn't you understand?"

"Why does _he_ get to stay?" Natsu huffed, pointing at Plue who was sitting on the bed (how did he get up there?).

"Because I can trust Plue to keep his eyes shut," Lucy replied and then gave him another kick to force him out of the door. She closed the door behind her and smiled at Plue, who now had his eyes shut.

She hurriedly changed and then met Natsu and Happy outside. The fingernail-thin moon was high in the sky, giving them next to no light. That didn't matter because Natsu produced some fire in his right hand. It illuminated his face and made him look evil. Plue cowered behind her legs.

"This way," Natsu told them. He led them through the back where all the caravans were. They made sure to make no sound as they walked so no one woke up. Natsu had told her last week that dragon-slayers had super-hearing, so she was sure they wouldn't be caught.

Adrenaline was pumping through her veins as they walked. She'd never thought she'd join a circus, much less _sneak out_ of one. It was strange how much her life had changed, but it was a good change. Sometimes she felt lonely, but the times like these, when it was just her, Natsu and Happy (and Plue) made it worthwhile.

They escaped through the back, cut through the local park, and then they were walking down the pavement. Natsu had extinguished the fire because there were now streetlights to light their way.

A cool breeze brushed through Lucy's hair that made her tingle. She wasn't a little girl anymore; she wasn't the same girl who wandered through the corridors of the mansion and thought she could catch glimpses of her mother walking by even after her death, or her favorite nanny who had passed away. Lucy was now an adult, responsible for herself, and mature.

But she was also the girl who could summon Celestial Spirits. If those existed, then why wouldn't ghosts?

Every town had their share of deaths, so every town must have a ghost or two. It might have been bookshop owner who had died from an avalanche of books and now haunted anyone whoever bought his books; it could have been a frail old woman who had died alone and now haunted newlywed couples. The ghost could even be the spirit of the Mayor's late wife, now haunting his soon-to-be gold-digger wife and the ghost was scheming for a way to get rid of her beloved's new woman, using a plan that resulted in a _lot_ of blood…

Lucy suppressed a shiver but couldn't stop her cringe. She cursed at herself for thinking such stupid things at the dead of the night. _Leave the story-telling for the novel!_ She reminded herself.

"What's up with you?" Natsu asked her, looking at her oddly. His face broke into a grin. "You're not _scared_, are you?"

"Ghosts exist!" she blurted out. Natsu started to laugh at her paranoia. "They do!" An image of her mother flashed before her eyes. Lucy used to imagine her mother's ghost sitting in her pink bedroom, reading her stories and singing her lullabies, only for her angelic face to turn frail and sickly, just like how she looked during her long illness that had resulted with her death.

Her mother had been looking so poorly before her death. It had been hard to believe that she was the same woman who had often energetically told her stories about Celestial Spirits, putting motions with her beautiful words.

Natsu stopped laughing once he saw the sad look in her eyes. He looked unsure on what to do, if he should console her or something. But Lucy shook the memories off, like always, and put it behind her.

"Look, there's the Diner," Lucy said, pointing at the Diner across the street. She swooped Plue up and crossed the street without waiting for Natsu and Happy. She could hear their footsteps behind her.

Once in the diner, there was no more time for talk because the boys started to pig out on the food. Lucy could feel herself shrinking more and more into her chair to stop the food from getting on her face or hair. Despite Plue's tiny body, he ate a surprisingly amount of food – much more than Lucy.

"Hey," Natsu said once he had gulped down the last of his chocolate milkshake. Lucy was still slowly sipping her strawberry one. "How many Key-Guys do you have?"

"They're not called _Key-Guys_," she told him. "That's disrespectful. They're Stellar Spirits and I have 10." She dug into her pocket and took her Keys out. She never went anywhere without them. She placed the Keys on the table and said, "There's the Zodiac Stellar Spirits: Aquarius, Cancer, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Virgo, and Taurus. Those are the Gold Keys. The Silver Keys are: Plue, Hologram, and Lyra."

"How'd you get so many?" he asked.

Lucy bit her lip, and then said, "Aquarius and Cancer belonged to my mother." Natsu nodded, and didn't push and ask about her mother. She knew about her 'father, the dragon Igneel whom had disappeared, and she never pushed him on that and asked the dying question of what was it like to live with a dragon. "And, uh, Virgo belonged to a man named Duke Everlue."

"Who?"

"He was some rich man and I had to go to his house as a child with my father," she told him. "And, as it turned out, he didn't use his power for good."

_A young Lucy, aged only 9, gasped as she read the first few pages of the story _Daybreak._ It was in the Duke's private library, a room she was certainly not supposed to be in, but the curiosity had been too much and the sight of so many books had been overwhelming. And, then, she had spotted it. The book by her favorite author and the only book of his that she had not read before. Hesitantly, she had taken it from its shelf for a quick read._

_But the story was horrible. Nothing she had expected. She could feel the bile rising up in her throat. And then she heard the loud stomping and her blood froze cold._

"The Duke had forced the author, Kemu Zelaon, to personally write him a book and had held him captive for three years."

Natsu's eyes widened, as did Happy's. "Just for a book?" Happy asked, incredulous. Lucy sadly nodded.

"Yes. And then the maid, Virgo, found me. I had to summon Cancer to fight her. At that time, I only had Aquarius and Cancer."

"And you won?"

"Yeah. I told my father about the Duke, who then went to prison and I got possession of Virgo. She's actually quite nice," she added with a smile, remembering Virgo's nickname for her: _Hime_.

"That's cool," Natsu told her, eyes gleaming. "What about the others? Fights as well?" He looked eager to hear.

"Aries, Gemini and Scorpio all belonged to a Mage called Angel. She had come for Virgo, hearing that the Duke lived in the area, but he was already in prison, so she wanted my Keys. She mentioned she was from a Dark Guild. I had no idea what she meant," she added. "We fought but Gemini couldn't ki- hurt me," she quickly changed, "Gemini couldn't hurt me because they had sensed my love for Stellar Spirits."

"Three at once?" Happy said in excitement. Even Natsu looked impressed. Lucy felt herself blush.

"That's nothing compared to you. I mean, you must've gone on lots of missions," Lucy said, eager to hear more about their missions. They had only talked a little about them during the time she had been at the circus. Envy highlighted her voice.

Instead of answering, Natsu asked, "Do you like Fairy Tail?"

It was common for him to ask random questions unexpectedly, but Lucy had an inkling that this question wasn't random. "What are you talking about? Of course I like Fairy Tail!" Natsu gave her another odd look and stole a lonely fry off her plate. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged as she absently chewed the fry. "Just. I don't think Wendy liked us at first. It took her a few weeks to get used to us."

"It did?" She asked in confusion. Wendy was a lovely and sweet little girl whom no one could think ill of or dislike. And she naturally treated everyone equally too.

Natsu nodded and stole another fry. Lucy rolled her eyes and just handed him her plate to finish off. "Wasn't she a part of your Guild since she was a kid?" she asked him.

"No, she was part of 'Cait Shelter' first," Natsu answered.

The name of that Guild sounded cute. It suited Wendy. "What happened to it?" She knew the vague details about 'Phantom Lord', a rival Guild to Fairy Tail. They were practically a Dark Guild, what with all the evil tasks they did. They had been disbanded, and Juvia had joined Fairy Tail because of her large crush on Gray and had made Gajeel, who she strangely cared for, join too.

Natsu hesitated. "They died," Natsu spoke, his voice barely over a whisper. Lucy felt her blood run cold. They _died?_ And Wendy (and Charle) had been the only ones to survive? How? Why?

_Poor Wendy! Having all the people she was close to die._ Yet Wendy always smiled warmly at her. "So is that when she joined you?"

He nodded. "She wanted to be with other dragon-slayers. I think that was when the Council decided to get rid of us. Y'know, with three dragon-slayers in one Guild."

"But Wendy isn't like you and Gajeel," Lucy thought aloud. "I mean, she doesn't fight or hardly even talks -!"

"Didn't matter. They hated us from the start because we always made trouble. So, they got some guy to get into our Guild, with this memory magic that made us think he'd always been a part of Fairy Tail."

Lucy remembered hiding behind beer barrels weeks before, listening to a conversation she shouldn't have. "Doranbolt?" she blurted out. _Damn! What's with this word vomit?_

Natsu looked at her, confused as to why she knew this, but continued. "Yeah. But then, we thought his name was Mest. Mest Gryder."

"And he found a reason to disband your…" she didn't finish her sentence on, not wanting to say the 'G' word again.

"Yeah. But only me and Gajeel were banned from joining Guilds. Wendy got taken by the Council."

Lucy's hazel eyes widened. "Why?" her voice came out in a whisper, almost as though the Council was with them _at that very moment_ and could hear them.

"They tried to take advantage of her powers. She can heal people. But if she does it too much…" he trailed on, letting Lucy fill in the blanks. "But the Council didn't really care about that. They needed her to heal people, and she had to stay with them because she had nowhere else to go."

"But you saved her," Lucy finished.

"All of us," Natsu told her. "We got her out and we left Fiore." Natsu looked straight into her eyes. "I still worry about her, because I want to protect my nakama," Natsu continued. "Everyone in Fairy Tail is my nakama – from Mira to Lisanna, Ice-boy to Elfman, Gajeel to Juvia, and from Happy to Lucy. You're all nakama."

Lucy bit her lip. Natsu wasn't dumb – although he sometimes acted like it. He knew that she was feeling a little lonely, a little left out. She felt her eyes water with happiness. She quickly looked away and Natsu did the same, out of embarrassment. Her heart was practically skipping over what Natsu had said. Sure, maybe not everyone in Fairy Tail viewed her as nakama, but it had been Natsu who had persuaded her to join - who had filled her life with adventure.

She was still smiling they all walked home. Well, not all of them walked. Happy was riding piggy-back style on Natsu because he had eaten so much he could no longer walk. Plue had fallen asleep and Lucy was cradling him. His carrot nose kept nudging her as he silently moved in his sleep.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she whispered to him when they reached her caravan.

"Night, Luigi," he told her before walking off.

Lucy didn't bother to correct him.

… … …

The next morning, she found Wendy sitting at one of the tables outside the huge tent that was filled with the loud boys – and Cana, who started her drinking early in the day.

Wendy was seated at the small round table, wearing a pretty summer dress and her long hair and glowed in the sunlight. She was reading a book as Charle, who sat opposite her, sipped at her tea in an elegant fashion.

"Hi, Wendy," she brightly said. Wendy looked up from her book and smiled back at Lucy. "Mind if I sit?" she asked her.

"Of course you can," Wendy told her, motioning to the empty seat next to her. Charle glanced at Lucy with distaste as the blonde sat down, but then quickly adverted her eyes.

"What you reading?" Lucy asked Wendy, engaging in some small talk. After what she had heard about Wendy – about that Mest/Doranbolt/Council-member/should-have-been-killed-already-by-Natsu guy – Lucy had felt the need to cheer up Wendy, even though the girl hardly ever looked unhappy.

"_Tom Sawyer_," Wendy replied. "Levy recommended it." They spent the next few minutes chatting about books and Lucy was happy that no one was going to interrupt them. Maybe Wendy felt lonely like her too. She normally just sat with Charle who, although being with Wendy's closest friend, probably like girl-talk.

"Do you like it here at Fairy Tail?" Wendy asked her.

"Yeah, but I don't think I fit in," Lucy sheepishly told her. She felt that Wendy would understand her, so was comfortable enough to tell her the truth. Or, maybe it was the word vomit again.

"You do!" Wendy insisted.

Before another word could be said, they heard a large clatter and a few yelps. They turned their heads to the direction of the noise and caught sight of Erza approaching them, smiling warmly.

"Lucy, I have a gift for you," Erza told her, her eyes lit up with excitement. Lucy stared up at her, bewildered and confused. "I received it as a reward, many years ago, but I never had any use for it…" she held out her hand and showed Lucy the gift – a Gold Key.

"Sagittarius," Lucy gasped, eyes frozen on one of the 12 Zodiac Keys. Her eyes filled with greed, but then she blinked and looked back up at Erza. "But I shouldn't-"

"You're a Stellar Spirit Mage, you deserve it," Erza insisted. She entrusted it into Lucy's open hand.

"What's going on, Lu-chan?" Levy asked as she approached them. "Hi, Erza-chan. Hi Wendy-chan."

"I have given Lucy a Stellar Spirit Key," Erza told her.

"Really?" Levy asked, eager to hear about it.

"So what?" Gajeel asked as he sloped passed them. "It's not like bunny-girl's going to be any stronger with one other Key."

"Not true!" Levy scolded Gajeel. "She had to fight to get her other Gold Keys!"

"How many Gold Keys does that make now?" Gray asked

"Gray-sama! Gray-sama, have you left Juvia for _Lucy_-san?" Juvia asked with horror and sadness.

"Eight," Lucy answered, trying not to be shaken by Juvia's deathly glare.

They all stopped to look at her, impressed. The silence was broken by Natsu and Happy, whom both popped out of nowhere, wearing matching grins. "That's our Lucy!" they said in unison.

"Maybe you'll be able to get all the Gold Keys," Gray said with some admiration. "Right, Loki… Loki?" he said, looking around.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked. She saw a head or orange hair fleeing towards the other direction. She shook it off and she was suddenly engulfed by questions about her Stellar Spirits.

Natsu gave her a knowing smile, which she happily returned. _I could get used to being here…_

* * *

><p>*flailing* 97 reviews already? :D I don't deserve all of them.<p>

To my 100th reviewer - I will be willing to write you a fic... y'know, if you want me to? Really, I want something to write.

Oh, and in other news, I now have a tumblr, which explains why I've been getting somewhat distracted.


	9. Suspicions

"_Mommy, is it true that Aquarius is a mermaid?" she asked her mother with eager eyes as she was tucked into her bed. She snuggled into the fat, feather-soft pillows and felt her eyes instantly begin to droop._

"_Yes, it is," her mother replied from where she sat on the bed, beside her beloved daughter. "She has a beautiful blue tail, with sparkling scales and shiny hair."_

"_And Scorpio is a scorpion?"_

"_Exactly."_

"… _And Leo?" the small girl added, this time her voice not filled with joy or excitement, but fear. Her voice trembled as she said, "Is Leo actually a lion?"_

_Her mother knew her daughter her well enough to be aware of her fears; the small bubbly blond shriveled up when one even _mentioned_ the name of the 'ferocious beast' with a mane. Although she hadn't seen a lion before with her very eyes, she'd read the storybooks and had seen the illustrations of the wild animal and had shuddered at the sight. The nightmares had burnt her brain with the roar of a lion forever assaulting her ears._

"_What do you know about lions, sweetheart?" the older woman asked._

"_They have manes and…"_

"_Other than what they look like."_

_She pursed her lips in thought. "They're tough – and strong too."_

"_And that's what Leo is. Tough and strong… And loyal to his family."_

* * *

><p><strong>IX - Suspicions<strong>_  
><em>

With awed but fearful eyes, Lucy watched as Gray held his ice-wielded bow and arrow. Lucy clenched her fingers in fright and bit down on her lip. Juvia was strapped to the bulls-eye target, with no hint of fear of anxiety in her eyes, only determination. Juvia wore a smile, like always, because Gray was around.

Gray aimed at Juvia's heart, and shot the ice arrow. Lucy instantly cringed and closed her eyes shut, waiting for an audible scream of pain and anguish, blood splattering the ground and the sky reddening with agony. Instead, she heard the applause of her friends, so she hesitantly opened her eyes.

One important fact about Juvia: she was made out of water and could transform into it at any moment. Now, she had shifted, so that where the arrow should have pierced skin, instead, it had only pierced the bulls-eye target. Lucy watched, wide-eyed, as Juvia turned all of her body to water, slid away from bulls-eye target, and slid back into her normal form, next to Gray. The audience, the rest of the Fairy Tail circus, clapped.

"Next up, Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna!" Max Alors, the blond-haired Sand Mage, announced. The three siblings made their way on stage, Mira as a butterfly, Lisanna as a strangely colorful bird, and Elfman just strode his way up to the platform.

It was a competition between everyone, to see who was the most talented in the circus. The prize? 50 thousand jewels.

The one thing that Natsu loved more than food and friends was beating people. And not just in fights, contrary to common belief, but in competitions too. He was bouncing in his seat next to her, eager to get on stage and perform, and grinning like mad. Happy, next to Natsu and occupying his own seat, was also smiling.

Lucy groaned. Unlike them, she was nervous. She did not wish to perform _at all_. But, of course, Natsu had begged, even gotten on his knees and pleaded before giving her his adorable puppy-dog eyes, and she had begrudgingly agreed to perform with him. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Gray take his seat. It was because of that stupid Ice-Boy (oh great, now she was talking like Natsu) that she had to perform. He had been teasing and jeering at Natsu the other day, tell the Fire Mage that Gray would most certainly win the competition.

"_Just watch, Ice Boy!" Natsu snarled at Gray. "I'll win for sure!"_

"_Yeah right!" Gray retorted. "You and Happy? I've seen all your acts!"_

"_And I've seen yours!"_

_Gray faltered for a minute, but then Juvia interrupted with a determined smile. "Gray-sama will win because he has Juvia as his assistant!" she told Natsu with a bubbling grin. She looked over at Gray and swooned. "Right, Gray-sama?"_

_Gray looked back at her, confused out of his mind, the same bewildered look that most people in the circus wore. But, then, he glanced back at Natsu and grinned too. "Yeah, I got Juvia! We're going to beat you and Happy!"_

"_I've got Lucy!" Natsu retorted smugly._

_On second thought, it's Juvia's fault,_ Lucy deduced. "Next up, Natsu and Lucy!" Max shouted out and Lucy froze with fright. _Damn. _She hadn't even been able to see Mira and her siblings perform!

"And me!" Happy shouted out, angry that Max had forgotten to mention him. Lucy fretfully walked up to the stage, while Natsu practically skipped with glee and Happy joyfully flew to the stage.

But then Natsu flashed his regular toothy smile at her, and she felt a rush of calmness flow through her. Not only could he annoy her, but he could calm her down too.

…

"How much _longer?_" Natsu groaned as he trudged behind her, dragging his feet as if they were heavier than anvils. Lucy briskly walked in front of him, neither slowing down nor looking back. If she happened to look back, Natsu would give her his puppy-dog eyes, pout, and plead until she gave in and agreed to go home.

"It's your own fault!" she told him, keeping her eyes on the scenery around them. "If you hadn't burnt my desk, I wouldn't have to buy a new one!"

The flea market was bustling, all the locals buying cheap miscellaneous items. There were the normal, everyday items like rugs, desks, and chairs. But there were also the strange foreign things like tarot cards, odd-shaped lamps, necklaces said to ward off the devil, rings said to entice it, and even a dream-catcher that Lucy was tempted to buy to ward off the occasional nightmares. However, she didn't, knowing that Natsu would ridicule her for it for the remainder of her life.

"_Pleeeeeease_ can we go?" Happy begged. Lucy's eyes caught sight of a mahogany desk, small enough to fit into her room but big enough for her to sit at and write. She swiveled round on her heel and smacked into Natsu's muscular (and bare) chest. She fell to the ground, landing painfully on her butt. _That's going to leave a bruise…_

"Why are you on the floor?" Natsu asked, looking down at her. She rolled her eyes and got up, Natsu making no move to help her but looking at her inquiringly.

"Here," she said, handing him some of the jewels they had surprisingly won in the competition. "Buy the desk for me. Then we can go home."

"Aw, can't we have lunch?" he moaned.

"Don't you want to have lunch at home?"

"Can't we eat both?" he asked her. Lucy blinked. She would never get over how much he could eat. She nodded and he grinned widely, Happy smiling too, and ran off to hustle the seller for the desk.

It was surprising that they had somehow won the competition. She was sure that it had only been because she was new and they wanted her to feel welcome. She had summoned Plue in the act, because he had been there when the competition was mentioned and was strangely eager to do tricks. He had down various tricks like jumping through the hoops engulfed with fire.

She hadn't missed the way Loki's eyes had watched, mesmerized, as Plue appeared from the Stellar Spirit World. His eyes had been full with nostalgia and longing, but then he had met her eyes and hastily looked away, nervous and anxious.

Lucy had been paying more attention to Loki a lot, lately, though she had no idea why. She hadn't noticed before, but there was something amiss and odd about the aura around him. Not to say that everyone else in Fairy Tail wasn't odd – they were certainly far from being normal – but Loki had an air around him that told her that he wasn't all that he seemed to be. No one else seemed to notice, though, so she assumed that she was just looking into things with too much depth. Maybe it was just because he was so frightened of her. Gray always assured her that Loki had had an encounter with another Stellar Spirit Mage and they hadn't gotten along very well, but Lucy felt differently.

It was while she was thinking about the orange-haired womanizer when she spotted the gleaming silver Key. It was just sitting on one of the stalls, alone and abandoned. How the Key ended up here of all places, she had no idea. It was so far away from its home in Fiore with actual Mages to use this precious Key and not just see it as some unnecessary decoration. There was a pang in her heart as she thought about the Stellar Spirit whose Key that belonged to, trapped in the Stellar Spirit World, and doomed to stay there until a Mage happened to find him/her.

Her legs took control of its own and she was already hurrying to the stall so she could buy the Key. The seller, a middle-aged man whom was already losing hair, noticed her and his thin lips stretched into smug smile. It was easy to tell from his grey eyes that he was greedy and would give her a high price for the Key.

"How much is the Key?" she asked him, dreading it if the rest of the prize money would be spent on the Key. She wouldn't want to do that to Natsu and Happy, especially after promising them lunch.

"10,000 jewels, m'lady," he told her. Lucy brushed off the "m'lady" part and how much it reminded her of her days back when she lived in that mansion and the little maids would timidly greet her.

Instead, her eyes widened at the horrific price. "_10,000_ jewels? It can't be worth that much!" The seller didn't even know what it did, yet he was asking for such a high price. She could easily pay it, but she wasn't going to give in so early.

"I wonder how much it's _really_ worth," she said, leaning on the stall and giving the seller a perfect sight down her shirt.

"10, 000," he said, not even a little distracted. Lucy felt her face get hot. _Isn't my sex appeal worth anything?_

"Lucy~!" Natsu shouted as she walked up to her. She straightened herself and saw Natsu and Happy approaching her, Natsu holding the desk up high with only one arm. "I got the desk," he added before placing it on the ground next to her. "Can we go eat now?"

"In a minute," she told him.

"But you said-" he whined like a spoiled kid.

Lucy sighed in aggravation. She leant in closer to hiss at him, "Don't you _see_ it? It's a Stellar Spirit Key!"

Natsu's eyes widened, as did Happy's, and they glanced to where the Key sat, calling out to her. "Is it the Dragon Key?" he excitedly asked her.

"Does it matter who it is?" Lucy asked. "It's a Stellar Spirit and it's supposed to be with a Mage, not used as some decoration like anyone else would do!"

Natsu looked at her for a moment, puzzled, but then slowly he nodded in understanding. He approached the waiting seller and asked, "How much for the Key?"

The old man pursed his lips. "Like I told your friend, its _10, 000 jewels,_" he sharply told Natsu. "If you can't pay it then get lost. I have other customers."

Natsu leant in closer to the old man, eyes reddening with anger. Or hunger. Or both. The seller gulped in fright. "How much for the Key?" Natsu asked again, giving him a glare that was fit to have even Erza running for the hills.

After, Natsu handed her the Key and she gratefully smiled at him. "Thanks," she told him.

He just shrugged. "That's what friends are for, right?" he said and her heart fluttered a little, and it wasn't because she had another Stellar Spirit she could summon. "Now, c'mon, I'm hungry!"

After their (Natsu's and Happy's) second lunch back home, the carnival went in full swing and the two boys retired to their (her) room to take a nap. Lucy aimlessly walked around the carnival, watching all the locals laugh and play at the booths. Their laughter lightened the air and Lucy found herself smiling too.

She almost jumped a mile when she saw her disfigured reflection on the warped mirror. It was just outside the _Hall of Mirrors_, the only game in the carnival that she _hadn't_ played.

Cautiously, she stepped inside, into the large and gloomy tent. There was hardly any light, apart from the little spotlights on top of certain mirrors. It was creepy and gave her chills. She continued forward, and found herself in a hallway full of mirrors, endlessly stretching on for what seemed like miles. There were mirrors to both sides of her, showing her ample but tense figure; some were warped and twisted.

She glanced at her reflection; she was wearing her usual attire: mini-skirt, short-sleeved top and knee-high boots. Oh, if her father were to see her now… He would most certainly have a fit. The same with all the maids who had been responsible in buying all her expensive dresses that she didn't care for.

Had he sent out employees to look for her, like he had the last time she had tried to run away? Was he still looking for her, months – no, years – later?

Her heart clenched a little. She would be happy if they had given up on the search for her, because she didn't want to be found at all, but the concept of her father no longer carrying about her and her whereabouts was upsetting. She had no idea why she was still upset when she had endured the treatment of being ignored by her father for years before she had found the courage to escape.

She watched the spotlight flicker on and off, her reflection disappearing and reappearing, before the one spotlight went out in total. But, before that, she thought she saw a flash of orange-hair in the mirror.

Hastily, she whirled around but saw no sign of the orange hair. _Who manages the Hall of Mirrors?_ She wondered. _And has orange hair?_

"Loki?" she called out. "Is that you?" She continued forward and then turned the corner, hoping to find the way out, but was only shocked to see another hallway full with mirrors. She gritted her teeth, This was like a never-ending maze, and she'd only just entered! "Loki!"

As she walked, she realized how dimmer the lights were. She could hardly see a thing. A shiver went down her spine. "This isn't funny, Loki." Now she was getting scared. Goosebumps prickled her arms and she _swore_ that the temperature dropped, followed by an icy chill that made her shudder.

"L- Loki?" she cried out once more, her voice breaking at the end. "Natsu… ?"

She broke into a run, making mad dashes this way and the next. She was _desperate_ to find a way out of this ridiculous nightmare.

And then, so comically that she could have laughed, the spell was broken and the panic within her was gone. All because she had collided into Loki and, like the quick shattering of glass, the fear and terror that encircled her was quickly gone.

"S- sorry!" he stuttered, sounding more panicked than she had. And then, before she could say a word, he was hastily rushing away.

"Hey!" Lucy shouted after him, annoyed. He didn't stop, so she had no other choice but to follow. "Loki! Hey!" Finally, she was able to catch up to him and pulled at the hem of his thick fur coat to get him to stop. "Slow down! I don't know the way out."

"Oh," he mumbled, turning a little pink. "S- sorry," he nervous laughed.

She quickly released her hold on his coat and together, they awkwardly walked side by side. There was an uncomfortable silence between them, and only their soft breathing and the faint sound of the carnival outside could be heard.

"Hey," she said, breaking the awkward tension. "I've been meaning to ask this… what exactly is the deal between you and Stellar Spirit Mages?" He didn't meet her eyes. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" she hurriedly added, not wanting to seem extremely nosy.

"I'm sorry if I've been bothering you," he told her. "I mean… it's not like you did anything wrong. If I made you feel out of place here… I apologize."

"It's fine," Lucy told him. Granted, she'd felt a little hurt that Loki had never spoken a word to her after finding out that she was a Stellar Spirit, Gray constantly reminded her it was only because of some 'incident' with another Stellar Spirit that Loki acted this way. It was nice that Gray, although a total Ice-Boy like Natsu called him, looked out for her.

"No, it's not."

Lucy halted to a stop and Loki did too. She looked up at Loki with questioning eyes. "Are you okay, Loki?" she asked, concerned. Mirajane's motherly instinct was rubbing off on her. She frowned. "You look a little pale."

"W- what?" He laughed again, a high-pitched sound that was laced with anxiety. _Oh, great, he's back to being a blithering buffoon._ "Gotta go!" he added, and then broke into a run, going in the opposite direction.

"Loki!" she shouted after him.

He slowed down and looked over his shoulder to her. "Ah- O- oh, right – just keep going forward and then you'll be out in no time!"

"That's not what I -" He was already running off. She groaned. "… That's not what I was going to say," she finished, then sighed and then continued to walk.

"Stupid Loki, always running away," she muttered in frustration as she left the tent. "What the hell did that Stellar Spirit Mage do to him? Why is he _always_ running away?"

"So he's still annoying you, huh?"

She squeaked in surprise and swiveled around on the spot. Bixlow was grinning at her, his tongue sticking out, as per usual. His maniacal look and demeanor never failed to annoy her. "What do you want, Bixlow?" she asked, turning away from him. "Shouldn't you be manning your booth?"

"On my break," Bixlow told her, walking alongside her through the carnival.

"So, like I said, what do you want?"

"Aw, don't be like that, you'll hurt my feelings," he said, fake pouting. She gave him glare, which was somewhat difficult since she was unable to see his eyes. Not that she wanted to, because Natsu had told her the power of Bixlow's eyes and she never wanted to see what they truly looked like.

"So, he's still running away from you?" Bixlow continued. "All nervous and scared?" She didn't say anything. "Have you asked your new Stellar Spirit about it? What's it name again?"

"Crux, the Southern Cross," she mumbled. She had told them – everyone of Fairy Tail – about her new Stellar Spirit and his powers. "Yeah. But it was no use – Crux-Jiji just said that Loki had been in contact with a Mage called Karen Lilica, and she passed away…"

"Did you ask about the Stellar Spirits she owned?"

"Huh?"

She was sure that Bixlow had just rolled his eyes behind his visor. "The Stellar Spirits this Karen girl owned. You have, what, 10 Zodiac Spirits?"

"Eight."

"Whatever. But one of them must have been in possession of this Karen girl. They might know Loki."

"But…" He was already walking off. "Hey, wait!" Bixlow didn't turn back, but continued walking away fro Lucy, without another care in the world. "Why do all boys never let me finish my sentence?" she cursed.

Bixlow's five dolls followed him, eerily floating in the air, their maniacal faces painted on them giving them a more spooky and eccentric look. "Hey, Ever, give us a kiss, won't you?" Bixlow called out to the brown-haired Evergreen who was operating the Kissing Booth.

"In your dreams, Bixlow!" Evergreen haughtily told him and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I'd sooner kiss your stupid dolls."

"Hey, don't insult my babies!" Bixlow told her, and the five spooky dolls whizzed towards Evergreen. The customers screamed in fear and jumped away and Evergreen batted the flying dolls away like flies with her manicured hand.

Lucy watched their encounter with nonplussed eyes. She would never get used to the wackiness everyone seemed to possess. She almost giggled, but instead she shivered, feeling an unsightly presence nearby. She whipped around so fast she nearly got a horrible case of whiplash, but saw no one in sight other than the locals and her friends. Levy waved to her, and she shyly waves back. _What was that?_ She thought, hesitantly smiling at Levy. She had felt someone's eyes piercing into the back of her neck, watching her with fixated eyes. _I'm just being paranoid_.

Lucy's hand went to her new Silver Key. Asking again won't hurt…

Late that night, after the circus act, Lucy sat in her room, on her comfortable bed, as Crux sat cross-legged on her wooden desk. "I'm really sorry to have to ask you again, Crux-Jiji," she told the vast, cross-shaped Stellar Spirit.

Natsu tapped the sides of Crux. "Is he made out of metal?" he asked aloud.

"Natsu! Don't do that!" Lucy told him, embarrassed and irritated. "That's rude to Crux-Jiji!"

"But he's not even awake!" Natsu told her and waved a hand in front of Cruz's drooping eyes and sleepy face.

"No, he's just searching," Lucy replied, making herself comfortable on her bed by nudging her way to her soft pink pillows. Natsu looked at her, bewildered. "Crux-Jiji is an expert on Stellar Spirit Magic. He knows all that's going on between humans and the Spirit World. He even knows which Spirits have been summoned by which Mages," she added, which related to the question she had asked Crux: _"What Zodiac Spirits did Karen Lilica own?"_

"AHHHHH!" Crux shouted, his voice breaking the calm in the room and startling Lucy. Lucy squeaked and banged her head against the headboard in surprise, while Natsu just stood there, staring at Crux, unfazed and unmoved. Happy slept peacefully on Lucy's bed, sprawled out across the bed with his cute furry belling slowly moving up and down as he breathed.

Although having seen Crux do the _exact same thing_ when she had earlier asked what Stellar Spirit Mage Loki had been in contact with, Lucy was still startled. However, after shaking off the initial shock, she asked the Stellar Spirit, "What have you found, Crux-Jiji?"

"I can't be too sure," he told her, his voice laced with sleepiness, "But Karen Lilica had two Zodiac Keys in her possession before she passed away. Aries and Leo."

"I'm afraid that's all I can tell you," Crux added before he let his eyelids finally droop shut.

"But he's still searching," Natsu said.

"No, he's asleep now," Lucy absentmindedly told him._ Aries…_ The soft-spoken Stellar Spirit had been in Lucy's possession ever since she had defeated that horrific Mage, Angel. Aries the Ram was the sweetest and nicest Stellar Spirit that Lucy knew. Lucy didn't know much about Aries, though, because the Stellar Spirit was so shy, but she knew that Aries had been close with the Stellar Spirit Leo.

But if Angel had defeated Karen, why hadn't Angel gained possession over Leo, as she had with Aries?

"LUCY!" She jumped in surprise, the back of her head nearly colliding with the hard headboard again. Gray rushed into her room, panicked and unusually tense, no longer the casual and cool – no pun intended – Ice Mage he really was.

"What do you want, Ice-Boy?" Natsu asked with distaste.

Instead of taking the bait and, for once, Gray exclaimed in a alarm, "Loki's missing!"

"What?" Lucy asked, hastily swinging her legs over the bed.

"What do you mean, he's missing?" Natsu asked in outrage.

"I mean he left the Guil- the circus!" Gray told Natsu. "He's been acting strange lately and I didn't see him in the stands when we were performing. I even went to check if he was in his room but it was empty!"

Aries crossed her mind one more time before Natsu was suddenly by her side, pulling her up from the bed. "We have to go look for him!" Natsu told her, and then picked up the still snoozing Happy.

…

Luckily, the night sky was lit up with stars and the full shining moon, so it was a cinch to see. Not to mention, Natsu had conjured up a ball of fire in his hand so it was easy to see the whole street, as they searched for the one and only orange-haired Mage, Loki.

"_LOKI!"_ Natsu screamed out and Lucy winced. A hand went to her sore ear. Of all people, she had had to be paired up with Natsu to search for Loki. Not that there was anything specifically wrong with him (apart from being totally dimwitted and unable to remember her name) but when he shouts, he _shouts_, so loud that her eardrum nearly burst. "_LOKI!_" he bellowed again.

"Loki!" Happy echoed Natsu.

"Shh! You're going to wake the whole neighborhood!" she reprimanded them – well, mostly Natsu, because Happy's voice was barely a few decibels louder than usual.

"How else are we going to find him?"

An idea crossed her mind. _It couldn't hurt to try…_ Lucy fished out the Key she had been able to grab from her dresser at the last minute, right before Natsu and Gray had dragged her away to join the search. "Open the Gate of the Ram! Aries!"

The Stellar Spirit emerged through a layer of thick smoke, a silent beauty to all watching eyes. First Lucy spotted her bright pink hair and cute horns perched on top of her head. Her clothes, fabricated with the finest wool, barely covered her voluptuous body and did not suit her shy, tentative demeanor. Aries big doe eyes of soft brown found Lucy, and she gave her a happy, if hesitant, smile.

"So _fluffy_," Happy said, bits of saliva landed on Lucy's silky blond head of hair. Lucy cringed and let out a small, disgusted, "_Ewww!_"

Then, Aries eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the blazing fire Natsu held in the palm of his hands. A whimper escaped her lips, like an innocent lamb confronted by a predatory lion, and she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over her dainty feet. However, she composed herself as much as she could and asked, her voice shaking, "Y- you h- have su- ummoned me?"

"Natsu! Turn that out!" Lucy hissed at Natsu, who then stopped studying Aries with bewilderment to look at Lucy with confusion. "The fire! Wool is flammable!"

After a beat, Natsu finally understood and said, "Oh," before letting the vivid red fire disappear.

Lucy turned back to Aries, who looked calmer now that the fire was out. "We need your help finder our friend, Loki," Lucy told Aries. The Stellar Spirit nodded, understanding the task, but her face gave away the puzzlement of _her_ having to do such a task when she was a Zodiac Spirit, specifically used for combat purposes. "He has orange hair and -"

"A lot of people have orange hair," Natsu interceded. "She hasn't seen Loki before so she won't know what he looks like."

"I know, why don't you call Plue?" Happy exclaimed.

Natsu grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Why don't -"

Hastily, Lucy ceased him from continuing by covering his mouth with her hand. "Shush," she told him, glancing at Aries. The poor Stellar Spirit Mage now looked so dejected and hurt that Lucy frowned with sympathy. "Loki used to know a Stellar Spirit Mage named Karen Lilica." Aries' eyes widened. "Apparently, they were really close."

Aries gulped. "Is he… do you think he's…"

"I think so," Lucy truthfully told her and Aries' eyes watered. Aries nodded, this time furiously. "Trust your instincts," Lucy told her before Aries ran off, her footsteps light against the pavement, and the name of her best friend on her lips.

"What's all that about?" Natsu asked out of curiosity. Lucy paused, contemplating if she should tell Natsu. He was friends with Loki, who had been keeping a dreadful secret from him and the rest of his friends. But Natsu was her friend too, her dear friend who was strangely able to make her heart beat faster at times and make her cheeks turn a bright rosy color, and she didn't want to keep secrets from him. Especially since she was already keeping secrets from him…

"Let's go find Aries," she told him, nodding towards the direction where the Stellar Spirit had disappeared off to. Natsu nodded, somehow not realizing the change in subject, and starting running after Aries, and Happy immediately whizzed after him, looking like a small blue fuzz as he flew past Lucy.

Just as she was about to follow, a shiver involuntarily went down her spine. _Huh?_ Why did she feel like someone was watching her? Hastily, she glanced around, panicked, but found no one in sight. There houses stood solemnly on both sides of the road, and no one walked against the dull grey pavement.

She felt stuffy in the humid air, so it couldn't have been due to the non-existent wind that she was feeling on edge. The hairs on her neck stood on end and she could not yet shake the feeling that something ominous was lurking around. It was like a horrifying aura was being projected – like the one she had felt radiating from the mischievous Duke. Ghastly memories flashed through her mind as she remembered the sickening Duke, boasting about how he would have had the nerve to _kidnap someone_ just for them to write a book about him.

"Lucy!" She looked back and saw Natsu, his bright pink hair easy to spot. "Are you coming?"

"Be right there!" she shouted after them, and started running towards them. She brushed off the ominous atmosphere and judged it as a part of her own paranoia.

…

He stood in front of the still ocean, breathing in the fresh smell of seawater. It was nearing midnight, so no one was about at the deserted beach, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

The stars twinkled, bright and burning, and he could spot several constellations. But, of course, he could not see his own. And after midnight when he was long gone, just mere memories in the thoughts of his beloved friends, his constellation would be no more. 12 zodiacs would become 11, and would continue to forever be that. But, who knew? Maybe Leo Minor would take his place. The little guy was as good as him and at least Leo Minor hadn't done a criminal offense like he had.

He stifled a sob at the thought of the wonderful Karen. It was his entire fucking fault that she was dead. He deserved to die. He'd broken the most sacred rule of all – the rule to never, under any circumstances, kill your Master.

_They all gathered around – all 77 constellations – as the 12 prime constellations stood in a circle, facing one another with determined looks on their faces. The world was evolving, and it was time for them to join the humans, not just stand and observe them from millions of miles up in the sky as sparkling lights. The Zodiacs – and the other constellations that were just as important – would help these humans as they developed through life, expanding their knowledge and helping them fight their battles._

"_After waiting many centuries, it is now time," the King – the Stellar Spirit King, the most almighty of them all – told them, his voice booming through the endless Stellar Spirit World. A few muffled giggles and chuckles went around, mostly because of the irony of the situation. The Stellar Spirit Mage, one who could manipulate time (and space, in the process) had had to wait, like the rest of them, for this._

_The King glanced around at the 12 of them, all standing proud, and his maroon eyes suddenly looked treacherous. "But first, we must all swear to something." _

_Leo, the name he went by back then, glanced at the intimidating Stellar Spirit – the only one whom would not be under possession by a Mage – with curiosity. The King glared back, and Leo found himself shuddering and quickly glanced away. His gaze landed on the nervous Aries, his best friend. She had her hands behind her back and her shoulders tense. Leo could tell that she was anxiously twiddling with her fingers behind her back._

_She looked up and their eyes met. Her doe brown eyes were wide and apprehensive, whilst his were cool and relaxed. He smiled at her, in attempts to calm her nerves. Of course, he was more than anxious too. He was sure that the only one who_ wasn't_ the least bit distressed was Capricorn, who was as serene as ever._

"_Aries," the King's voice boomed in their ears. Aries looked up, startled and almost hyperventilating. "Do you pledge to fight for your master to the best of your ability, and to never kill your master?"_

"_Y- yes," although her reply was shaky, Aries spoke determinedly. The Stellar Spirit King continued to ask the same thing of the Zodiacs. They all promised to never harm their master, and spoke with assurance and certainty that they would follow through with the promises. And Leo had also thought the same thing. He never thought in his entire life that he would intentionally harm the holder of his Key. _

It may have been unintentionally, but that still didn't forgive the fact that he had been the reason why Karen hadn't been able to summon other Stellar Spirits to help her. It was a sin, an unforgivable sin, and he deserved to die for it.

Everything was falling apart. He had killed his master; Aquarius acted like a bitch ever since she and Pisces had gotten into an argument; Capricorn was probably still missing – now the years Capricorn had been absent the whopping total of 17 – and Aries, poor Aries, was always uncomfortable around her master, ever since a Stellar Spirit Mage had horrifyingly abused her, 100 years back.

Loki cursed, and looked away from the stars that were only causing him to remember all of those times he had spent with Aries and were bringing tears to his eyes. His reflection in the water showed his withered face that was now fading away to never be seen again. His eyes - which girls had swooned over, saying that they made him appear 'oh so wise' - were losing their light.

Not to mention, he was hallucinating. Well, that had to be the reason why he was seeing the reflection of Aries in the water. But then that didn't explain the warm hand (paw?) that was placed on his shoulder. He whirled around, his stomach churning with hope, and met the warm brown eyes of the Stellar Spirit.

"What are you doing here?" he breathed out, shocked by her presence. He saw no sign of her Master, Lucy, anywhere. Disappointment shot through him, but then quickly disappeared as Aries looked deep into his eyes, sadness blemishing her face.

"I… I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice the only thing he could hear in the silent night. "It's… it's my fault…" her voice cracked at the end and her eyes brimmed with tears that began to streak down her face. "It's all my fault… I made you protect me and…" She gave out a loud sob that pained him to hear.

"No, it's not," he sternly told her, even though he was close to losing his voice. "I committed the sin."

"Not intentionally!" she said, and then she was wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder, with no aim of letting go of him anytime soon. "I should be the one to die."

"Don't say that!" he exclaimed, and she held onto him tighter. He wasn't worthy of being hugged, of being _loved_, by her or anyone. He'd killed someone and broken the most sacred rule. This was his sin and he deserved to die for it.

And then Lucy, Natsu and little Happy were all running up to them, shock on their faces, while Aries continued to soak his coat and he could _feel_ her trembling as she cried and cried. Natsu was confused, but he knew well enough that Loki was in trouble, while Lucy was still digesting the too-hard-to-comprehend news.

Tears were streaming down everyone's cheeks – even Natsu's, because he was attached to all his nakama, even Gray – as Natsu exclaimed that he wouldn't allow his nakama to die over a silly mistake; Lucy sobbed out that she'd change the rules because he didn't deserve this; all the while, Happy and Aries clutched him tightly.

When the Stellar Spirit King appeared, Loki didn't miss the way that Natsu practically shielded the whole of Lucy away from the large and equally terrifying Stellar Spirit. The Kind stared down at them, his red eyes glowing with disapproval, yet still grinning almost lecherously at them. Lucy shoved Natsu out of the way, exclaiming that Loki didn't deserve to die, and that he wasn't at any fault. Lucy was nothing like Karen; she was sweet, kind, considerate and cared deeply for her Stellar Spirits. But unfortunately, he was going to die before he could really get to know her.

He counted over eight Stellar Spirits that she summoned, all at once. Natsu's and Happy's eyes widened as they took in all the forms, and then he was falling, falling, and suddenly surrounded by all his Stellar Spirit friends in the safety of his real home, in the Celestial Sprit World.

…

She felt herself begin to slip away from the world, the air still all around her, as she stayed oblivious to her surroundings. There was no smell of monstrous fire that Natsu attempted to use for the sole purpose of burning Gray. There was no sound of the fire dragon-slayer's laughter reverberating as he claimed victory over Gray, or event he sound of him constantly teasing her, which she normally detested but now only yearned to hear.

There was nothing but blackness, neither sound nor sight, but her thoughts remained on Natsu. His eyes were coal black, like the cinders of a colossal fire. A fire that consumed him - or was it the other way around? Those times he'd held her hand, she'd felt a warm fire trickling up her arm, yet it hadn't been a dangerous and deadly fire that would harm her. It was warm and made her cheeks heat up and turn a rosy pink that almost rivaled Natsu's salmon pink hair.

"Luce…?" and there it was. His voice, as clear as day. The same deep eyes that were staring intently into her chocolate brown ones, imploring that she was alright. She felt his hand tightening its hold on her arm. The salty smell of the sea assaulted her nose. "Lucy? Are you okay?"

She gulped, not daring to look away, and nodded her head, only now realizing how heavy it seemed on her shoulders. "I'm fine," she told him, her voice so tiny it could barely be called a whisper. Natsu heard, with his abnormally sharp hearing, yet the worry didn't dissolve in the embers of his black eyes. She wanted to speak again, to insist that she was fine and it had just been some dizzy spell that made her disoriented for those slight few seconds. She wet her dry lips, about to speak, but stopped when she caught the quick shift of his gaze – his eyes briefly flickering to her lips.

And then the spell was broken. Hastily, she diverted her eyes, taking in their surroundings. They were still at the dark beach, like she last remembered before everything went black for those horrible few seconds, but they were the only ones there. No, wait, Happy was at their feet, busying himself with the wet sand and attempting to makeshift a sandcastle, but there was no sign of Loki or Aries or even the tall Stellar Spirit King.

"What happened?" she asked, blinking several times before looking back at Natsu.

"You fainted," he told her in his familiar '_you're so weird_' tone, like she should have known this.

"_Before_ that," she said. He glanced down at the keys looped around her belt, and she followed his gaze. There was one extra Key. "Loki…?"

"Leo," Natsu corrected with a shrug. He didn't seem all that fazed that his friend had kept such a large secret from him.

"You're not upset?" she asked. "Loki didn't tell you – tell anyone – about…"

"But he told us later," Natsu replied. "And he's sorry. Nakama forgive each other."

She smiled at him, feeling the calluses on his hands rough against her arm as she maintained his grasp on her, assuming that she would once again faint. Her toes tingled as she regained feeling in them, so she tried to stand upright but only lost her balance. She would have fallen to the floor, where her face would have met with the wet sand, but Natsu's other hand went to her other arm as he braced her from falling. "Thanks," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up again. "We should go tell everyone that we found Loki."

"No!" Happy chirped, narrowing his eyes at them. "I haven't finished my sandcastle!"

"That's so cool!" Natsu said excitedly, crouching down to get a closer look at Happy's work in progress. He awed at the disheveled sandcastle, a glint of childishness in his eyes that made Lucy laugh.

That ominous feeling was back again, like someone was watching them, and it sent a shiver down her spine. Looking up at the twinkling stars, she wandered if it was the Stellar Spirit King, still watching over them with his red eyes burning into her mind. As a child, she'd dreamed about being honored enough to meet the magical being known as the _Stellar Spirit King_. She had imagined him as a king out of fairy tales, with a charming smile and a crown, staff, and something about him that gave off a fatherly aura. A father whom she'd always wished she'd had. But the Stellar Spirit King whom she actually met was monstrous and intimidating, but fascinating nonetheless.

"What you looking at?" Natsu asked her, suddenly by her side and staring intently at the stars like her.

"Leo's constellation," she lied. "Did you know that his constellation's brightest star is called…" She stopped and looked back at Natsu after hearing a very loud and audible snore. His head was tilted to the side, eyes closed, and drool dripping from his mouth. "_Natsu_!" she shouted, aggravated. He 'woke up' with a jolt, and then laughed at her.

"You idiot!" she shouted again, moving to hit him for being so rude (what's new there?) but he dodged it by running towards the sea. She ran after him, only for her new boots to suddenly get soaked by him as he kicked water in her direction. He began to laugh again, Happy joining in with his high-pitched giggling, but was cut off when she paid him back by kicking the low-level seawater back at him.

It was back – the black aura full of hate and detest just _evil_. But she ignored it this time, reveling the fun moment she was having with Natsu; with her Keys clinking against one another as she dodged another shot of seawater, and Natsu and Happy yelling and laughing with her, nothing else mattered.

In the distance, hidden in the darkness, the man grinned deviously, observing the playful scene. He ran a hand through his orange-hair - that seemed black in the night - and held his gave on the exuberant blonde. Then, he turned on his heel and left, his own pair of Keys clinking against each other as he walked away.


	10. Dreamworld

Raise your hand if you hate me, becuase I don't entirely blame you. It's been over a month, and everyday I've been displeased with myself for not having updated yet. My will to write has gone. I mean, the ideas are there, but I can't seem to get them down.

Okay, okay, put down the rotten tomatoes and let's get on with the story. _  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>After her mother died, her dreams came to her more often. They normally consisted of her in that magical land her mother had once described in beautiful stori<em>_es. Her mother was always there, smiling and happy, along with her father, who was, for once, not at all bothered about work and etc. _

_And, of course, she was there too. She had a lot of friends, just like the Mages her mother described. Fire-breathers, people who could walk on water, and even some who could _fly_. Oh, how she longed for those dreams to be true._

_But then she woke up form her peaceful slumber, and the bliss she felt quickly vanished into thin air, along with her dreams. _

_At least they were better than the horrific nightmares where she watched her mother die over and over again. _

* * *

><p><strong>X - Dreamworld<strong>

6 days, 4 towns, 3 hours and… she leaned over to check her wristwatch that she'd placed on her bedside table. She had bought it from Max at one of the booths in the carnival and it had the smiling face of Happy on the front, mocking her with all its might. 10 minutes. 6 days, 4 towns, 3 hours and 10 or so minutes had passed since that night where Loki had disappeared, where they had found out he was a Stellar Spirit, and where she'd had met the Stellar Spirit King.

Yet, out of all the incidents that had taken place that eventful night, there was only one thing eternally lodged in her mind, reluctant to leave. That ominous feeling, like someone was watching her with fixation, had never left her alone. She had assumed that had been someone her father had hired to track her down and bring her back, which made her relieved that she was successfully 4 whole towns away. But, that didn't stop her from wanting to go back and confront whoever had been watching her and, once and for all, tell her father to leave her alone.

And it could just be her stupid paranoia. After all, Natsu hadn't felt the deathly waves radiating through the air, and he had the enhanced senses of a dragon. It made her feel safe, knowing that Natsu was with her and ready to protect her if need be. Not to mention, there was Loki – or Leo, more correctly – too, and the rest of the Stellar Spirits.

She put her watch back down on the bedside table, and then reached into the first drawer, where she had placed her Keys before getting into bed. _Breathe, Lucy_, she told herself, sighing in relief. They're still there. She closed the drawer, and lied back down on her bed, her head meeting the feather-soft pillows. The ceiling above her was dark and dingy. She closed her eyes, willing the blissful sleep to come.

In all the 6 days, she hadn't gotten one moment of rest. Yes, she'd been able to sleep, but it had been neither restful nor blissful. It had involved a lot of tossing and turning and waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and even tears. Hazy white replaced pitch black and before she drifted off to sleep, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she would be lucky enough to have a peaceful night sleep.

Hazy white replaced the dark ceiling and she felt herself getting lighter and drifting off. But then the cloudy-white that had filed her sights was evaporating into the harsh blue on green, followed by the sound of the thrashing of the sea. Her eyes widened at the sight of the majestic ocean, and she blinked several times in attempt to clear her vision, unsure if she was really seeing the smooth yet severe waves of the sea. Yep, she sure was.

_Okay, this must be a dream_, she thought, scrutinizing every detail of her surroundings. Never had she ever been on a ship, not including that short boat trip out of her hometown. The boat she was on rocked back and fourth gentle, but a giant wave caused it to suddenly lean to the left; she lost her balance and fell to the wooden floor with a thud, landing on her sore bottom. _So it still hurts in a dream. Just my luck._

The deck of the boat looked extremely similar to the pictures she had seen in books. In fact, it was alike to Captain Hook's boat, as seen in Peter Pan, and she almost expected Peter Pan to come flying in, leaving a trail of fairy dust at his tail. Hey, it was a dream. Anything could happen.

No imaginary characters were going to come jumping in to save the day, because she didn't need saving. The whole boat was filled with her friends – the Mages of the Fairy Tail Circus. Or, judging by the flag, the Mages of the Fairy Tail Pirate Crew. The deck stretched on for meters, the floor at her end dirty and the floor at the other end was gleaming clean. Although, that was mostly due to Jet and Droy, who were mopping the deck at the far end. As always, Levy wasn't that far away; hidden by the barrels and boxes surrounding her, Levy was sat at the corner of the boat, reading. Cana was seated on a barrel and was, not surprisingly, jugging down beer like no tomorrow.

"What are you doing on your butt, blondie?" a deep voice asked. Hastily, she stood up, nearly losing balance again because of the rocking of the boat, and her eyes darted to the owner of the hoarse and frightening voice.

"What are you doing?" she asked Gajeel, wondering if she should be scared of the horrifyingly large blade in his hand. No, it was more appropriate to call it a sword, due to its size.

"None of your business," he grumbled, turning his back on her so he was facing the ocean. She heard the sickening sound of a knife being sharpened but didn't linger to question him.

Up the few steps behind her was the steering wheel of the boat, being controlled by Laxus. She would have thought that Master Makarov (or Captain Makarov?) would've been steering, but she doubted that he could even reach the steering wheel. Evergreen stood next to Laxus and seemed to be navigating, her head lowered on the map in her heads, her glasses slipping from her face. Fried was staring out into the ocean at the front, telescope glued to his eye. Bixlow was snoozing in the corner, making no sound as the boat rocked and didn't disturb his slumber. His 'babies', however, were all lined up next to him. They seemed to make an eerie nasal sound, as if they were snoozing too.

Evergreen's head bounced up and she glared at Lucy. "What do you want?"

"Uh…"

"If you want to make yourself useful then go to the Kitchen or something," Ever snarled out. "GO!" she shouted out when Lucy stayed rooted to the spot.

_Even though it's my dream, Ever still pushes me around. _Quickly, Lucy turned around and bounced down the steps to the deck. She saw the doors at the end, and guessed that they led to the Kitchen. "Hey, Cana. Hi, Levy-chan," she called out to them as she passed them.

"Hi Lu-chan!" Levy trilled out, smiling warmly at her.

"Lookin' for Natsu?" Cana asked her after gulping down her drink.

"Eh, no. Evergreen told me to go help in the Kitchen," Lucy replied, although she was wondering where Natsu was.

"Figures," Cana said, rolling her eyes at the typical Evergreen behavior. Lucy said goodbye to them and then pushed through the doors. She sighed with relief, once seeing that they really did lead to the large porcelain-clean Kitchen. The counters against the walls were a gleaming white with ornate countertops. There were so many ovens and stoves and cabinets that it resembled her own Kitchen in her father's home, yet it was so much more magnificent and… homely. Or, maybe that was because Mirajane was there, smiling brightly as ever, clad in her usual dress but also with a white apron.

She quickly hustled towards Lucy, only to stop at the stove next to the blonde. Mirajane quickly turned the stove off, stopping the frying of the fish. "Hello, Lucy," Mirajane said, as she worked, not even turning to face her. "Are you here to help?"

"Uh, yes, sure am," Lucy said, even though she had never cooked in her life without burning the food or herself.

"Okay!" Mirajane turned to her, smiling gratefully at her, and Lucy smiled back. Mirajane whipped off her own apron and handed it to Lucy. "Here, put this on. I have to run to the basement and get more fish." She was already rushing to the door.

"Wait! What should I do?" Lucy asked, panicked.

"Elfman will help you. Thanks!" Mirajane told her before disappearing out of the door. Lucy stared after her, but followed orders and put on her apron and swiveled around, in search of Mira's 'manly' brother. And there he was, chef's hat perched proudly on his silver-white hair, expertly cooking steak. That was something Lucy had never thought she'd see, dream or real world.

"Hi, Lucy!" Wendy said, and Lucy stopped short at seeing her. Wendy was also clad in an apron on top of her dress, although hers was a pale pink, and the same went for her tiny hat.

"Hi, Wendy. Did you make these cupcakes?" she asked, referring to the plate of cupcakes in front of girl, some covered in pink icing.

"No, Mira-chan did. I'm just putting the icing on," Wendy replied with a shrug. There was a bit of icing on the tip her nose.

"Wait," Lucy said, reaching over the counter to the kitchen towels. She wiped the icing off Wendy's nose, who then blushed. Lucy paused in thought, realizing her motherly act. _Speaking of motherly…_ "Where's Charle?"

"No cats in the Kitchen!" Elfman's voice boomed through the room, causing Wendy and Lucy to jump in fright. Lucy reeled around to face Elfman, who had stopped cooking for the time being. His hand wrapped around the handle of a large butcher's knife, was a sight which would have frightened Lucy if it hadn't been Elfman, Mirajane's brother, holding it. He didn't necessarily look angry or upset, only had that familiar look of determination on his face. "A man should not allow creatures that will shed hairs on his food into his room. That is why men where chef hats!" Elfman added, pointed proudly to his cap. "Right, Wendy?"

"Right, Chef-sama!" Wendy told him, saluting him and almost knocking her hat off. Lucy didn't bother to mention that Mirajane had not been wearing a chef's hair. "I've finished icing the cupcakes, Chef-sama."

"Put them in the cupboards," Elfman instructed her, and she obliged and took the plate of cupcakes into her dainty hands. "In the cupboard with the garlic and onions," he added.

"Why there?" Lucy asked, wrinkling hr nose, while Wendy followed through with her task.

"So the smell of garlic and onions stop Natsu from sniffing out the cupcakes," Wendy simply answered.

Ah, that made sense. "Lucy, go get Natsu, please," Elfman told her. She looked at him in puzzlement. They didn't want Natsu sniffing out the treats, but Elfman was ordering him to the Kitchen anyway? "It is the dragon-slayers turn for Kitchen duty," Elfman answered her unspoken question. "A man must fulfill his duty!"

"What about Gajeel?"

"Gajeel is a man! He has already done his job," Elfman told her, motioning to the neatly chopped pieces of meat. Lucy gulped, her fear of Gajeel increasing.

"What now, Chef-sama?"

"Chop up the onions," Lucy heard Elfman saw as she exited the Kitchen, but not before taking her apron off and placing it on one of the counters. "A man is allowed to cry in the presence of onions!"

"Elfman's looking for Natsu," Lucy told Cana and Levy once she was back out o on the deck. The wind had picked up and the journey was much rougher. "Have you seen him?"

Both Cana and Levy pointed to the doors on the other end of the ship, under the platform where Laxus and his team stood. Lucy continued in that direction, hoping that Evergreen would not go screaming at her again. She adverted her eyes when she saw the very naked Gray, lounging on a deck chair with Juvia hiding and drooling over him.

She pushed through the doors and nearly tripped down the stairs, not expecting the steps. As she descended the steps, she could hear the muffled murmurings of her friends through the thin walls. She reached the bottom of the stairs and traveled through the hallway, doors at both sides of her. Most of the doors were closed but the door to one was wide open. Curiously, she poked her head into the small and cozy room. It had a small, firmly shut, porthole, a desk, a dresser, and a bed, with both Loki and Aries sitting on it.

"Hi," she said, startled by the sight; Aries was lying down on the bed, her head on Loki's lap, while he sat and stroked her head.

"Lucy! Is something wrong?" Loki asked her.

"No, nothing. Is something wrong, Aries? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, staring into Aries's unusual pale green face that clashed horrible with her pink hair.

"What?" Aries hurriedly sat up, nearly bumping heads with Loki. "No, Lucy-sama, I'm fi…" Aries's face turned lime green. Quickly, she laid back down, her hand gripping her bare her stomach. She winced in pain.

"She's just a little seasick," Loki explained, sympathetically squeezing Aries' shoulder. "Just let her get some rest."

Lucy nodded, said goodbye and left. It was only when she was several doors down that she realized that she hadn't even asked why the both of them were doing here, out in the real world. Well, it was a dream, so anything was possible. Her hand automatically went to her Keys – or, more correctly, to where her Keys should have been. Her precious Silver and Gold Keys weren't looped in her belt.

_Don't panic,_ she told herself, and continued walking to distract herself. She screeched to a halt at one door, which was half-open. She peeked in, and was relieved to see Natsu, lying haphazardly on his bed, sleeping.

But, the room didn't look like Natsu's. For one, it was neat. Well, somewhat neat but not a pigsty. And the furniture was intact and… there were books. Books on the desk. _The idiot! He's in my room – again!_ She stomped over to the desk and grabbed the first book there was and flung it at Natsu. He didn't even move._ In that case…_ "Wake up, NATSU!" she screamed out, attacking him with the heaviest book she could find.

Startled, he fell off the bed with a thump that made Lucy feel accomplished. That was, until Natsu grabbed the pillow and swung it back at Lucy, hard. _Who knew a pillow could hurt so much? _she thought as she swiftly stood up and glowered at Natsu. "Why'd you do that?" she shouted.

"You hit me first!" Natsu countered, stretching.

Lucy grabbed another book. "You're—the—one—in—my—room!" she shouted as she smacked him repeatedly with the hardback book. He flinched every time, although she was sure it couldn't have hurt him that badly.

"But your room has the best bed!" Natsu told her.

"That doesn't give you the right to sleep in it!" she told him, aggravated. No matter where I am, he never fails to annoy me… Her thoughts were broken off by a loud shriek that assaulted their ears. She looked at Natsu with wide and horrified eyes. It had been the most ear-piercing sound she'd every heard, full of fear and panic.

"Wait here!" Natsu told her before zooming off. His command fell on deaf ears because she quickly followed him. She bounded up the steps; the only sound reaching her ears was the continued screaming that made her dig her fingernails in her palms.

"What's going on?" said Loki in panic, coming up the stairs behind her. Aries wasn't far behind.

"I don't know," she mumbled to him, and then they finally reached the deck.

She gasped. At the left of the boat was the most terrifying monster she'd seen in her entire life. Forget the Lock Ness Monster and the ticking crocodile in Peter Pan, this was much worse. It was the size of a giant shark, but with silver-green scaly skin and ferocious turquoise eyes. Its mouth was like a shark's, too, with over 50 sharp teeth to count, ready to bite at them. Its turquoise eyes narrowed at them, vicious and searching for its next meal.

"What's going on? Who's screaming?" Lucy asked, gaping in horror. She could distinctly hear Evergreen screaming at Laxus to turn the boat around while Cana, Levy, Jet, Droy and everyone else on the deck fought with the monster. Only, the monster wasn't at all backing down. It only bared its teeth at them, biting at everything that came its way as if it had a bigger appetite that Natsu and Gray combined. It thrashed its two fins about too, but they were roughly the size of two wardrobes.

And then Lucy spotted the source of the screaming. It hadn't been someone on the deck, whom had just spotted the monster. No, it was poor Aquarius, who was out in the ocean, continually being snapped at by the monster and its sharp teeth, unable to escape. Her blue hair was messy and bedraggled, not at all the silky form it usually was. A look of terror was etched on her face. Her urn, her precious urn which her only weapon and the most valuable thing she owned, had a very large dent.

"Aquarius!" Lucy bounded towards her helpless Stellar Spirit, whom she cared for no matter how badly the mermaid treated her in return, but was stopped by Loki. He was gripping the hem of her shirt with such force that made it impossible for her to escape his grasp. She coldly stared at him, the temperature dropping all around them; he returned her hard glare with a stern look of his own that managed to look grim and solemn, even through his stylish sunglasses and with his vivid flower-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

"It's too dangerous," he told her, his voice severe.

"She's my friend."

"You're my friend too," he said, "and I'm not going to let you get hurt."

"But-"

"This isn't in your element." She glowered at him, her eyes piercing through his tanned skin. "I mean, we're in the middle of the ocean. Leave this to Gray and Juvia."

He released his grip on her shirt, but she didn't stop glaring at him until a chunk of wood came flying their way. They both quickly ducked before it smashed into them and then Lucy hastily stood up, searching from where the broken bit of wood had come from. Apparently, Juvia had attempted to boil the monster with her deadliest attack, Sierra, but had been knocked back by a humongous fin with such force that she'd crashed onto the floor that it nearly crumbled under her.

Gray, shocked that the enemy had been able to knock out Juvia, quickly attacked back by attempting to freeze the monster. Lucy watched, shell-shocked, while the scales on the shark-like creature began to change from sea-green to pale green and white with ice and frost. The movements of the beat slowed, until it finally stopped and Aquarius's screaming finally drew to a halt too.

Loki sighed with relief, but Lucy knew that all was not over yet. As expected, a crunching cracking sound echoed through the empty sea. The ice shattered and sent pieces of icicles flying in all directions. Lucy ducked again, but Loki wasn't so fast. The ice pierced his chest. He crumbled to the floor, gasping.

"Loki!" Lucy screamed, crawling up to him. Her heart lurched, as did the boat, and her tears began to water as she inspected his body. The icicle was stuck straight in his heart, sticking out at nearly 2ft tall. Blood was seeping out of his wound, redder that Natsu's fire, redder than Erza's hair, and redder than her piercing anger at the beast that had caused Loki's pain.

"Leo!" Aries came running, too, tears streaking down her cheeks. She fell to her knees and kneeled by his body, sobbing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"… I'm… fine…" he croaked out, his voice limp like his body. The blood trickled to the floor, and she felt the warm redness touch her knees as she kneeled by his paling body.

"Is it… can we…?" she wondered, gulping. Hesitantly, she touched the icicle at Loki's heart. It was freezing cold and brittle. Cautiously, she wrapped her hand around the icicle in attempt to pull it out. Could that possible save Loki? She pulled a little, and Loki groaned in pain, such a horrible sound that Lucy's grip went limp and a new flood of tears poured out of Aries. "Wendy," Lucy suddenly thought aloud. She glanced around, looking for any sign of the petite Healer girl. "Wendy!" she screamed out, her voice hoarse and more tears threatening to fall.

"Lucy-chan…?" she heard Wendy's voice from behind her. Lucy turned her head and saw the small girl, who looked even smaller and frailer now, trembling. Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of Loki and she kneeled down next to Lucy, not caring the slightest that the hem of her dress was getting drenched in blood.

"Can you… Wendy, can you…?" Aries struggled to ask.

Wendy silently shook her head, sparkling tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. "It's too late," she choked out. Aries let out the most hurt hollow sob of all time and Lucy bit her lip from doing the same. With a trembling hand, the Stellar Spirit took off the sunglasses from Loki's eyes. His eyes were already vacant and misty. In death, they showed nothing. Nothing of his past, of the journey's he'd embarked on, or the love he'd felt. They were only hollow pieces of ice, while the blood that still poured from him might as well have been boiling.

_Fight fire with fire and you only get burnt. Fight water with water and you drown_. There had to be alternative, right? And there was, and his name was Natsu. Lucy dragged her eyes away from Loki, and her eyes immediately met with Natsu. He was about to attack, but their gazes locked. She could feel his dark eyes searching her lighter brown ones. And then his eyes narrowed, and Lucy saw something over than determination and eagerness fuel his fire. It was red-hot anger at the beast for taking the life of his friend Loki, and for making Lucy and Wendy and even Aries cry also. She could feel the anger radiating from him from all the way on the other side of the boat. Not only that, but it was radiating from Aries too.

"Aries…?" Lucy whispered out to the Stellar Spirit. The pink-haired girl didn't look up, only kept her head down, staring into Loki's eyes but never seeing her friend looking back at her. "Aries?" Cautiously, Lucy reached out to hold Aries's pale hand that the Stellar Spirit had clutching the hem of Loki's bloodstained shirt. However, before she could even make contact, Aries flinched her hand away and her head shot up to meet Lucy's brown eyes.

Instead of seeing chocolate brown eyes staring back at her, Lucy saw scarlet-red, the red of blood and anguish, in Aries' eyes. Before the blonde could say a word, Aries was already up and bouncing towards the monster to avenge Loki's death. "Aries!" Lucy shouted after her, hastily finding her balance and standing up. Wendy quickly followed behind her. Lucy could hear the smaller girl still sniffing, and was sad that she even dragged Wendy into this mess.

"Wool Bomb!" Aries attacked, while Natsu did also with his deathly fire. The beast flapped away the fire like it was nothing but a pesky fly. Embers of flame bounced off the monster and onto Aries. The fire fed on the very flammable wool, suddenly blazing brightly. The fire licked at Aries' clothes and her bare arms, and she could only screech in return.

"No!" Lucy screamed again, seeing another one of her Stellar Spirits in pain. "Aries!" The Stellar Spirit was oblivious to everything and everyone who was attempting to help her extinguish the fire that was licking at her bare arms and tarnishing her soft pink hair. Her hair, her clothes, everything was red and burning with rage. The red bled into her sight, like an ever-burning fire with no hope of being extinguished…

Then red faded to pink like an ending sunrise. The sky had became clear again. Screams faded away into silence.

Lucy blinked.

_What was that?_ All was still, with no gentle or harsh rocking of a boat. A sigh of relief left her lips. It had just been a nightmare. She was in her bedroom, in her bed, under the duvet-

Huh? She wondered, sitting up. A chill ran down her spine. Not from fear of any sort, but from the cold. Her duvet wasn't covering her. Not to mention, the sound of snoring was in the room. Natsu. Frowning, she edged to the other end of the bed and looked over. Natsu was lying haphazardly on the cold hard floor, peacefully sleeping, half covered by her duvet that he'd dragged to the floor.

She smiled upon seeing him looking so calm, rather than a picture of anger like in her nightmare. Sighing, she scooted back to the other side of her bed and swung her legs over the side. Loudly yawning, she stood up and stretched ad started to get ready. She hoped that an early morning shower would not only wash away her sleepiness but the remnants of her nightmare.

…

Only three people would be up at dawn: Mirajane, who always started breakfast early on; Elfman, who either trained or helped his sister prepare the meals; and Vijeeter, who did something between yoga and Taekwondo in the morning as exercise.

Who was never awake by noon, nonetheless dawn, was Gray. While talking a walk to clear her mind and breathe in the fresh air that was cooler than the humid atmosphere in her room, Lucy found her friend Gray slumped on a large boulder. As usual, Gay was shirtless, but was actually wearing pants this time. He was sitting on the large rock, not at all fazed by the discomfort he must have been feeling from sitting on something so rough and bumpy, with his eyes half-closed. He kept on clenching and un-clenching his fists, a look of anger flashing across his face before being replaced by a look of sorrow.

Swiftly, he looked up and their eyes met. He must have heard her footsteps. He quickly masked his sadness with an expression of solemn. "H- hi, Gray," she hesitantly said to the Ice Mage.

"Hey," he replied, his voice in a dull monotone. Lucy almost winced. She wasn't dumb – she had seen the change in Gray as soon as he had discovered that his close friend Loki was really Leo, the Lion. He felt betrayed that his best friend had never told him the truth; not to mention, Gray was angry that that Loki had left without a word while knowing full well that he was dying.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," he grumbled in reply. She stayed rooted to the spot, earnestly staring at him. "I'm fine," he told her, more sternly, his beady eyes piercing into her like harsh lasers ripping at her skin.

Slowly, she retreated, and Gray let his gaze slip away from her. But, just before he looked away, Lucy caught the glint of sadness and misery in his ice-cold eyes. It pained her to know that she was part of the reason why Gray was upset. But what else was she to do? Loki had been dying and now, he was once again replenished and healthy as ever, continuing his thwarted life as a Stellar Spirit. Her Stellar Spirit.

As she walked back, she spotted the head of curly bright that was peaking out from one of the large bushes that bordered the area. "What are you doing, Juvia?" she asked the Water Mage, who was crouched on the floor, hiding behind the wild green bush.

Juvia's head tilted up to look at Lucy. "Ah, Lucy-san, my love rival."

"I'm not your-"

"Lucy-san was talking to Gray-sama," Juvia said, standing up. Her voice wasn't tainted with the usual over-exaggerated sorrow when she talked about Lucy's attempts to 'steal' her beloved Gray away from her; nor was she melodramatically angry and boiling with rage. "But even Lucy-san was not able to cheer up Gray-sama." Juvia gave out a sigh full of dejection.

Shyly, Lucy held out her hand and Juvia looked at it dubiously, then back up at Lucy. But then she smiled and graciously took her hand, and Lucy pulled Juvia up to her feet. Lucy had never seen Juvia like this. So upset and… human. Now, Lucy could see how much Juvia truly cared for Gray, proving that what Juvia felt for Gray wasn't just some innocent crush because she thought Gray was 'sooooo handsome'. It was love, and Juvia was heartbroken that Gray was so miserable. "Maybe we should just give Gray some time?" Lucy suggested.

"Juvia hopes that will work," she mumbled. Light blue eyes found brown. There was something in the midst of the deep blue eyes, the color of the calm ocean, which made Lucy feel like she was drowning. It reminded her of her dream – more like nightmare – and Lucy could almost see the scaly monster reflecting in Juvia's blue eyes that almost seemed sea green.

"Juvia? Lucy?"

Both of them broke eye contact to turn to the source of the voice. Timid Wendy was shyly smiling up at them, shuffling her sandal-clad feet. "Hello, Wendy-chan," Juvia said, plastering on a fake large smile.

"Uh, hi Wendy," Lucy said. "Why are you up so early?"

"Charle had a nightmare," Wendy sheepishly told them, although there was worry in her eyes. Did she have the same nightmare…? "And then I took a walk while she got more sleep. Master found me and said to find you two."

"He did? Why?"

Wendy only shrugged, nonplussed. "I don't know, but he told me to get Gray too."

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought, while Juvia's eyes widened with exaggerated excitement. "Gray-sama!" Juvia repeated, gaping. "Master is calling Gray-sama too!" her mind drifted off into a daydream, her voice becoming more wistful as she spoke.

Wendy glanced over to where Gray was slumped. "Is he okay?"

"I… don't know."

Wendy warily walked up to him and Lucy watched as the smaller girl talked to Gray. She couldn't hear them talking, but could see Gray being solemn and not smiling at all. Wendy looked more than uncomfortable talking to him. Gingerly, Wendy started walking away, but Gray followed her, walking lazily towards them.

"Master's waiting for us at the back," Wendy told them, pointing north. She started to walk ahead of them, a little skip in her step, and the three of them followed – Lucy curious, Gray nonchalant and Juvia struggling to keep her balance as she stared hungrily at Gray.

The small, but still fearsome and strong, Master Makarov was sat on a barrel – no doubt full with beer, for Cana – and Natsu was sat on the floor, eyelids drooping and close to falling asleep all over again. Happy lay in his lap, fast asleep. Lisanna, silky white hair still bedraggled as if she had just woken up, stood by Master, her eyelids half-closed.

Lisanna greeted them with sleepiness, stifling a yawn. Natsu made no sound. While the girls greeted Master and Lisanna, Gray stood with his arms crossed, half-scowling. "What's all this about?"

Makarov narrowed his eyes at the Ice Mage. He'd known Gray ever since he was a child, and knew him well enough to sense when he was angry or aggravated. But now, Gray was feeling something was very different from what he felt when he argued and fought with Natsu. However, Makarov just cleared his throat, about to speak, when he stopped because of a loud snore.

"Natsu!" Master shouted at the pink-haired boy, who had managed to fall asleep while still sitting up straight. "Wake up!" Natsu made no move, only continued to snore.

"Wake up, flame head!" Gray growled, giving Natsu a swift kick. Immediately, Natsu jumped up and Happy fell to the floor with a thud.

"You wanna go, Ice boy?" Natsu glared at Gray.

"At least ice doesn't melt my brain," Gray countered, the anger dissolving into the usual annoyance he felt whenever he talked to Natsu.

"Melt your brain? Like you even have one!"

"Boys!" Master shouted, and the two boys thwarted. "Enough. If you two can't get along now, then there are no hopes that you two can tolerate each other for a two-day cruise."

"Cruise?" the girls did a double take, while the boys just looked at Master with confusion. "A cruise on a boat?" Lisanna asked. Natsu paled.

"Yes," Makarov replied, glancing at Natsu. Yesterday, I was approached by a man named Masaru Shinji." Lucy felt an icy chill go down her spine. _Why does something seem weird about that name?_ "He was interested in hiring some of you to perform for a cruise."

Excitement jolted through Lucy, as it did with the other girls, but it quickly vanished once the memory of last night popped into her mind. That nightmare… the sea… how would she be able to stay on a boat with that nightmare still on her mind?

"I know what you're thinking, Lucy," Makarov said, jolting Lucy from her thoughts. She looked at him with wide eyes. "I know you're not a performer," Makarov went on and Lucy was conflicted, not knowing if she should be happy that Master had no idea about her nightmare, or upset that she couldn't talk to him about it. She went with happy. "But, we need assistants to help out. Not to mention, keep an eye on these two," he nodded to Gray and Natsu. "The same goes for you, Wendy."

Wendy grinned with excitement. "Can Charle come too?"

"Of course. And Happy."

"I don't want to go," Natsu said and all eyes darted to him. He was turning a sickly green. "I… I… Idontlikeboats."

"What'd you say?" Gray teasingly asked.

Natsu clenched his fists. "I don't like boats. There, I said it!" he said through gritted teeth. "I hate them and I'm not staying on one for two whole days!"

Lucy sighed. She'd forgotten about his motion sickness. "What if I told you that it paid 5 million jewels?" Master asked, unfazed by Natsu's confession. Gray's eyes widened, and the girls literally gasped. _5 million jewels?_ That was a hell of a lot of money.

Natsu even seemed to be considering it. He groaned. "Still no. I won't even be able to perform."

"He'll be puking the whole journey," Gray said, wrinkling his nose.

"I can help," Wendy said. She blushed when their gazes fell on her. "I mean, I can use my healing abilities. It's the least I could do since I can't perform."

"Are you sure, Wendy?" Master Makarov asked her, although he was certain that she was determined to help in anyway possible. Wendy was sweet that way. The small girl nodded, and Makarov smiled. "Okay, then it's settled. The eight of you, including Happy and Charle, will be performing on Masaru Shinji's singles cruise."

There it was again. That foreboding atmosphere thickening as soon as someone spoke that man's name. Lucy pushed it away and celebrated with her friends, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind that was begging her not to go on the cruise.

…

It was not only Lucy who felt that something was awry about the man named Masaru Shinji, not to mention the cruise in general. Charle frowned disapprovingly as Wendy gushed out all the details Master had told her about the impending cruise that they'd be attending. Her frown deepened when she heard the name of the man whom had hired them to perform.

"Charle? What's wrong?" Wendy asked her best friend. She looked at Charle with concern in her soft eyes.

"I don't want you to go on this cruise," she bluntly told Wendy, who's eyes widened with surprise.

"But why?" Wendy asked, hugging her pink throw pillow to her chest and leaning against the headboard of her bed. "I mean, I was really looking forward to it."

The girl was biting her lip, with her eyes wide with sorrow and disappointment. Charle sighed. "I just… I have a bad feeling about this." She didn't want to worry Wendy about matters like these, especially since the girl had been so excited and needed a break, but the skin-crawling feeling Charle had was too sinister to ignore.

"Is it about that nightmare you had?" Wendy asked, leaning closer to Charle who sat at the foot of the bed.

"It's nothing," Charle told Wendy, shaking her head. Even thinking about that horrendous hazy nightmare - that had seemed so real at the time - made her shudder. It flashed repeatedly in her head, like a video forever replaying in her mind. Her head ached and all she wished to do was sleep and forget, but she only feared that the nightmare would pop up once again to taunt her.

Foresight was a gift, Charle knew, and few were lucky to have it. It enabled her to see the future, and see dangers that were arising; it came in handy because she could protect the naïve Wendy from the impending dangerous situations. However, never had she foreseen something so ominous and disturbing that caused her skin to crawl and her sweat to drop. The ominous atmosphere was thickening as she attempted to decipher her vision, and somehow she found herself drifting towards the drunken heathen's booth.

Cana, although unable to have premonitions, was also a psychic and could predict the future through tarot cards. Although Charle had thought of the matter as being a hoax and just the act of guesswork, Cana had proven that her cards held magic within them that not only allowed her to use them as weapons, but also allowed her to see the future of others. Charle did not want to admit it, but the drunken girl was a decent psychic. And, who knew? Maybe she also had an ominous feeling welling in the deep depths of her heart.

Determinedly, Charle walked into Cana's dark tent, ignoring the sign stating she was on her break and the stink waves emitting from the area. As expected, the tent stank of alcohol – a thick stench that nearly made Charle vomit in disgust. "I'm on my break, idiot," Charle heard Cana say from the shadows.

"Aren't you always?" Charle dully replied. Cana frowned from her seat on the thick red armchair, but then she glanced down and spotted the small cat-like figure and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Charle," Cana said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Pull up a chair – y'know, if you can reach," she added, nodding to the seat opposite her with a smirk on her face.

Glowering, Charle jumped up and sat down on the chair so she was closer eye-level with Cana, with only a table between them. Neither of them got along with one another, but Charle didn't necessarily get along with anyone other than Wendy, the girl whom she had taken under her wing and deeply cared for. Charle reminded herself of the small girl, who was too innocent and naïve to deserve any sort fo misfortune to fall on her path, and shifted in her seat. Wendy was the reason why she was here in the first place – not in Cana's booth, but in this damn circus to begin with – and Charle needed to do whatever it took to protect her.

It didn't help that Cana was acting like a rude drunken buffoon. "Where's your shadow?" Cana asked, eyes drifting towards the entrance of the tent, where Wendy was nowhere in sight. "Or, is it the other way around?"

"I am not Wendy's shadow or pet," Charle snapped at Cana, who raised her free hand up in a sign of surrender while her other hand gripped her beer bottle. "Neither is it the other way around… I care for her," she slowly added, her gaze drifting to the discarded stack of tarot cards laid on the table. Would Cana be able to predict the future of Wendy's without the girl ever finding out? The last thing Charle wanted was for Wendy find out about her vision and start fretting.

"You had a premonition about her," Cana stated, causing Charle to hastily look up. Their gazes locked and Cana quirked a playful eyebrow. There was no use denying it. "Is it about the cruise they're going to go on?"

_Yes._ "What makes you say that?" Charle stoically asked, not wanting to give anything away. She was half-hoping that Cana was feeling the same way as she was, half-dreading it also because it meant that Wendy really _was_ in danger.

"Because there's something wrong with the trip," Cana told her after taking a swig of her drink. "I mean, other than that Master isn't letting me go to."

"Oh, please, all you want is to drink the ship's supply of alcohol." Charle rolled her eyes. Cana opened her mouth to object, but then just laid back into her chair and nodded in agreement. "What does this have to do with anything?" Charle hissed, annoyed. "Why do you think something is wrong with the cruise?" Her eyes drifted back to the tarot cards.

"I have a weird feeling about it, okay?" Cana admitted.

Charle narrowed her eyes. "That's it?" she asked through gritted teeth. "A _weird feeling_? Nothing to do with your stupid tarot cards?" Cana glared at her, eyes blazing with anger. "I shouldn't have wasted my time talking to mediocre Mage like _you_."

Cana looked close to snapping. Her hand clenched around her bottle, so hard the glass could have shattered. She hated that people questioned the certainty of her tarot cards. They were incredulous about her ability to tell their future through her cards and it made her grit her teeth just thinking about it. It had happened many times, ever since they'd stopped being a Guild and started being a circus. Back in Fiore, no one would be skeptical about her powers because she was a Mage, but here they would roll their eyes at the fortune and believe it was all a hoax to get their 'precious' jewels. She'd gotten so aggravated that she never even _worked_ her stupid booth anymore, just stayed on break.

But now, an average human wasn't doubtful about her magic. No, it was a creature that _knew_ all about magic and even wielded some of her, who was skeptical about her ability to predict fortunes and that made it even _worse_. But Cana wasn't going to have any of that anymore. She no longer cared who doubted her powers because _she_ believed in herself and that was all that mattered. Angrily, she set her bottle down on the table with a loud thud that made Charle wince, and reached for the stack of tarot cards and started shuffling the deck. Charle watched her with suspicious eyes.

"What'd you see in your premonition?" Cana asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," the white creature stoically replied, eyes fixed on the cards Cana held in her hands. Cana stopped shuffling and gave Charle a pointed look. The cat-like creature's lips curled but nonetheless told her, "That Lucy girl was crying. As was Juvia, but what's new there?"

"Anything else…?" Cana asked, slowly started to continue to shuffle the deck.

"Natsu covered in flames and fighting. And the Ice Mage also," Charle rolled her eyes at the boys' destructive behavior. "And… a black aura," she added in a whisper, causing Cana to lean in to hear her. "An aura of hate and greed surrounding a man who will go to any means to get what he wants." Charle shuddered.

Cana's eyes widened. She'd never seen Charle so scared before. "And…?"

Charle sighed. "Numbing waves of the sea. That's all." Charle glared at the card Mage's stilled hands. "Well, are you finished?" she asked, irritated.

Cana pursed her lips. And here she had been starting to think the cat was tolerable. "Yeah," she told her and placed the deck of cards back on the table. She took the first tarot card on the deck and laid it out on the table for both girls to be able to see it.

On the tarot card was the beautiful figure of a woman with long curly blond hair and an angelic face, sitting on a large jagged rock found in the sea. However, from the waist down, where her legs would have been, there was a long scaly tail of a mermaid.

Charle glowered at the card, lasers almost beaming from her eyes with all the fury that they were emitting. "What's this?" she asked, glaring at Cana. "Mermaids? I have to be on the look for mermaids while on the cruise?"

"What do I know? I'm just a _mediocre_ Mage," Cana snarled back at Charle.

"I'm leaving," Charle hopped off the chair and angrily stalked off.

"Sorry to have wasted your time," Cana sarcastically called after her. She rolled her eyes and pulled a face after Charle had left. She looked back at the tarot card, and the mermaid smiled ruefully at her, although Cana was sure that it was silently mocking her for being dissed by a freakin' _cat_.

_Charle thinks she's so effing smart. _If Charle had not judged Cana's fortune-telling abilities and stormed off so quickly, Cana would have slowly explained that the card didn't signify that she would be encountering a mermaid. Mermaids were majestic creatures, but they weren't all that they appeared to be. They were beautiful and gave off the aura of sweetness and kindness, everything about them enticing and alluring lonely sailors travelling through the ocean. But inside there attractive bodies were cold hearts and devious and malicious minds. They were alive, sadistic, and they could very well be the death of you.

And they taught those poor sailors a lesson: never judge anything by first sight. _Not like those sailors could live to tell the tale, _Cana bitterly thought. Something may seem innocent and even a blessing first, would soon turn out to be some unearthly misfortune.

Meaning that the cruise that Natsu and then were going to go on to perform? Not something to be overjoyed about.

Cana sighed. She wondered if she should go back, find Charle, and explain everything to her. One part of her, the smug and stubborn part, didn't want to tell Charle because the stupid cat had been all self-righteous.

_How dare she?_ Cana thought it outrage. She grabbed her bottle and took a long swig. _She only started premonitions a few months ago! I've been a card Mage for _years!

Angrily, she knocked over the stack of tarot cards with a flick of her free hand. All the cards went sprawling across the table and Cana almost poured the rest of her drink over them in annoyance, but stopped. _Huh._ One card, other than the mermaid tarot card, was face up, while the others were face down. Gingerly, she reached over and took the card between her index and middle finger.

_Aquarius?_ The card showed the sign of one of the Zodiacs, Aquarius. _What does this have to do with anything?_ She wondered, her eyes darting back to the mermaid card. Furiously, Cana slammed the bottle down on the table for the second time now. She had thought that the mermaid tarot card was a metaphor of some sort, but adding it to the Aquarius tarot card, it reminded her of the Stellar Spirit Aquarius, whom was a mermaid.

Groaning, Cana leaned over and grabbed another beer bottle from the floor. She took a long, hard gulp, hoping that the alcohol would take the confusion away like it did with her pain. She knew that if she drank enough, everything of that night would be forgotten by tomorrow. Still, she kept drinking, eyes bouncing from one card to the next.

_Stellar Spirits… __Stellar Spirit Mages…_ She paused, mid-gulp. _Lucy?_

* * *

><p>So, nearly 150 reviews. Wow. With the way I've been updating, I don't deserve 910 of them.

So, speaking of fractions, I have about 7/10 of the next chapter down, but I can't find the will to write. I'll just pace my way through, doing at least 100 words a day. Be warned, though, by how little the story flows.

Anyone willing to offer their help?


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